How To Love Your Enemy
by Zoerawrr
Summary: Better than it seems. Draco plots to deage Harry and bring him to Voldemort, but he's found out and must care for a rapidly aging 2 year old. childfic, OOCs, cute!harry fatherly!draco. slash later on: Drarry
1. Day, Day, Day!

I'm sorry I always start new fanfictions when I've never finished my other ones lol

**I'm sorry I always start new fanfictions when I've never finished my other ones lol. I was bored and having trouble updating my others (which I'm not giving up on)… my first de-aging fanfic I hope you like… fanart? Set in 6****th**** year, no horcruxes but Voldemort does exist. No secret mission for Draco. Disregard whole 6 and 7 unless I indicate otherwise.**

**Disclaimer:-** This applies to all chapters. I don't own Harry Potter. Nuff said really.

**How To Love Your Enemy**

**Chapter 1:**

_This will make him pay!_ Draco Malfoy thought as he put the stopper in his potion vial whilst sat at the back of his potions lesson. Saint Potter was up at the front with Professor Slughorn praising him after every second breath. _You'll rue the day you got my father locked up, Potter._

Looking up, Draco noticed Slughorn eying his lime-green potion suspiciously. Realising that there were only a select number of potions that turned this colour, Draco grabbed a bat's wing and threw it into the cauldron, making it hiss angrily and turn the exact orange it should be.

The class had been concocting a stock of potions for Madam Pomfrey. They were supposed to put the drinker into a trance like state, unaware of any pain for up to an hour. Draco, after accidentally dipping his old school tie into the potion as he reached across the table, became mesmerised by the effect and after a few altercations made it suitable for human use. He was going to weaken Harry Potter in a unique way and deliver him to the Dark Lord in return for forgiveness on behalf of his father. The only reason he didn't kill Potter himself was because he knew Voldemort wanted the boy for himself for some reason.

"That will be all, class. Please bottle your potions and bring them to me. Weasley, you take them up to the hospital wing for me, please!" Slughorn boomed across the classroom in his genial way. Draco, meanwhile, cursed his luck; he'd been counting on Potter being asked to do this job, so he could have the chance to prepare. Luckily, Potter obviously wanted to help his friend, and he and the mudblood helped the blood traitor gather the vials.

Draco hid his unique potion in his pocket and vanished the concoction in his own cauldron before grabbing his things and sprinting for the kitchens. Once there he found Sirius Black's old house elf, Kreacher.

"Kreacher! I need you to do something for me, for the purebloods," Draco panted, pleased to find the elf straight away.

"Kreacher will do as Mister Malfoy wishes, as he is Kreacher's true master by blood status," the old elf croaked in his bull-frog like croak. Draco smirked.

"I need you to slip this into Harry Potter's drink. He should be there soon, he needed to do a job before dinner. If you do this I'll make sure that the Dark Lord knows of your loyalty."

The elf bowed. "Kreacher would be most proud to do Mister Malfoy's bidding instead of the nasty Potter brat's."

Draco smirked again.

…

Not ten minutes later Draco was sitting at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. He watched Harry Potter with beady eyes, unaware of the potions master talking to Professor Dumbledore at the head table, or the latter making his way to his feet.

"Draco Malfoy-" the old man started, but before he could go on, a loud boom erupted through the entire castle, and blue smoke spilled over the Gryffindor table from the middle. Draco got up to run to the Slytherin common room, under cover of everyone stampeding to the Gryffindor table, but stopped in his tracks when he felt the familiar spidery hand of his godfather make contact with his shoulder.

Draco let himself be pulled backwards by Snape, and he watched as the teachers of Hogwarts started ushering students out and as Albus Dumbledore himself stood back from the blue smoke, waiting for it to clear. The results came simultaneously and the hall doors closed as Dumbledore swooped in on a black bundle on the floor.

"It's as I feared, Dumbledore," Slughorn gasped as Dumbledore cradled the bundled only for a whimper to be heard from inside. "He has been deaged!"

Draco groaned at this, for he had been caught out; why else would he have been denied the chance to make it to the safety of his common room? Dumbledore looked up sharply when he heard Draco's desperate noise.

"Come here, Mr Malfoy," he ordered, but still in that serene way which irritated Draco Malfoy so much that hatred filled every particle of his existence. Nevertheless he stepped forwards until his tall frame was a foot away from the old mans lightly taller one. Draco looked down into the bundle and gasped.

A baby who looked no older than a year old gazed back up at him, eyes glistening with unshed tears. Even during babyhood Harry Potter still had his shock of untidy jet black hair, yet those vivid green eyes didn't yet hold the gaze that had seen so much. Draco could easily find the scar on the infant's forehead before his eyes started raking the boy's thin frame.

"My office, Draco, now," Dumbledore said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Minerva, take Harry to the hospital wing. We need her to officially tell us his age, condition and whether he remembers anything. Then bring him to my office."

After Dumbledore handed over a naked baby Potter, he led the way to his office and Draco followed, he didn't notice, however, that Professor Snape accepted the baby form Professor McGonagall or the pair heading for the hospital wing together.

…

Draco had explained everything to the headmaster. From the smallest details like finding out his unfinished potion had made his old tie new and pristine (he held up the evidence that was hanging round his neck) up to his major plan which was to bring the five-year old Potter to Voldemort. Dumbledore seemed unfazed.

"And why did you gasp when you saw Harry?" he asked, with a tone of natural curiosity.

"I only intended to potion to turn Harry to a five-year old at the very least, but he looks no older than a year… will I be expelled?" Draco asked suddenly.

"We will only be able to ascertain both things when Harry gets back from the hospital wing."

As if on cue, there came five quick knocks in rapid succession at the door. At the word from Dumbledore the door was pushed open and McGonagall entered, closely followed by Snape who was holding a sobbing Harry. Draco, surprisingly wasn't disgusted by this sight, instead he felt sick to his stomach to hear the boy cry that way. even as he thought this, he felt a presence in his mind and subconsciously snapped his head back to Dumbledore, who quickly looked up to the teachers and stood.

"Well?" he had to shout slightly to be heard over Harry's bawling.

"It turns out that Harry is actually 2 and a half years old. Madam Pomfrey says he is very behind for his age. All he's managed to say is "day", over and over…" Minerva explained.

Harry, now dressed in a red t-shirt with blue dungarees and red shoes, looked over at Draco and stopped crying.

"Day! day! day!" he shouted excitedly. Dumbledore indicated for Harry to be deposited in Draco's lap, where the smaller boy immediately fell asleep.

"Now, I am going to hazard a guess that Harry will now become more attached to Draco than any other student or teacher at Hogwarts, as our young Slytherin friend was the one who made the potion and was the last name Harry heard before deaging," Dumbledore more stated than asked.

"You mean he'll want to stay with me?" Draco groaned, before he saw a much better side to this and immediately brightened.

"Yes," answered Dumbledore. "And I'm sure you've already worked out that whilst Harry needs to be with you, you can't leave the school. Therefore, I won't expel you. Unfortunately, I will need to notify the ministry and apply some sanctions.

"Firstly, I refuse to let the boy stay with you if you are about to run off to Voldemort," the man explained. "So, unfortunately you are to move into Professor Snape's quarters, which he will kindly swap for Professor Slughorn's, because the dungeons are far too cold for a young child." At this Draco swung round to see his godfather, expecting a defiant expression. Instead he saw only acceptance.

"Also, Draco, you and one female student of your own choosing will look after Harry once he reaches the age of 6. I suggest Miss Granger. I must remind you that you alone are responsible for keeping Harry safe, the female is only there for a motherly type role. When the time comes for this change to be made you will be moved to your own quarters.

"As punishment and to make sure you have no temptation to abandon Harry, you will be physically unable to leave the school. You will not be accepted by the floo, a portkey won't work, apparition is of course hopeless, and even if you were to walk yourself an invisible boundary will prevent this. If Harry somehow found his way out these restrictions will immediately lift for you to catch up with your charge. It goes without saying that you may not take Hogsmeade trips unless escorted by a teacher.

"You are also suspended from your Quidditch team and Professor Snape is in charge of your welfare and set personal rules. Any questions?"

Draco was still stunned from the insane new rules, but a look at Harry brought all the guilt back.

"Er… what if You-Know-Who finds out that I made Harry young. Would you protect me from him if we came over to your side?" Draco asked, a pleading note in his voice.

"That may be arranged," the old man replied with a slight smile.

"And how fast will Potter grow? How long am I stuck with him for?"

At this, Dumbledore looked up to his staff. It was Snape who answered.

"With the right antidote if given today we can speed up his growth pattern which would put him at… a year every two weeks I should say," the ex-potions master replied, casting a slight glare at Draco, who was flabbergasted by this display of emotions.

"So that's… until the 17th of May?!" Draco cried, causing Harry to wake up and start whimpering. Draco ignored him. "But, what about lessons?!"

"Mr Malfoy, please. You will take Harry into each of your classes and when he gets old enough you will ensure he receives proper 6th year knowledge in his own classes. As he ages he will remember everything, about you bringing him up, but on the day he reaches 16 again he will recall everything that happened before this incident also. He will remember his education as he gains years in age, but as time goes on you _must_ ensure he gets his education from you or other teachers. Do I make myself clear?" Dumbledore asked.

"Crystal… sir," Draco added quickly at a glare from Snape.

…

Snape had gone on ahead to prepare his new living quarters and to make them suitable for a rapidly growing child. He also needed to concoct a relatively simple potion called Essence of Age. It was usually given to those who'd taken an aging potion and would take them back to their usual state within seconds. Because Harry's age was supposed to go up instead of down, the modifications would mean a severe delay in growth.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, kept Draco in his office a while longer, briefing him on the proper development of children and the proper way of catering to their needs. After fifteen minutes, Dumbledore stood and motioned the two boys out of his office. Draco scooped up Harry, who had been deposited on the floor, and left the room to head for the 3rd floor Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher's living quarters.

He finally came to the portrait of the rather tasteful skeleton, Draco reached out and pinched the funny bone, and the skeleton giggled the word: "Password?!"

"Charity," Draco half-sneered, shifting a dozing Harry onto his hip as he stared into the dark space behind the portrait. "Uncle Sev?"

"Through here," Snape called from somewhere inside. Draco entered and gasped. The whole room was decorated in purple, black and white, the latter two dominating most areas. The floor was made from a stained black wood whereas the walls and ceilings were pure white: a child's drawing canvas. A purple rug and sofa along with two pruple armchairs and a black tainted coffee table occupied the middle of the room, with a school writing desk in the corner of the room. Four doors were set into the wall directly opposite Draco.

"My room is on the far left, you'll sleep in the next room with Harry joining you for a month until the room you use to change and dress him becomes his bedroom as wel as a nursery. The last room is a bathroom." Snape explained. "As for Potter, he doesn't need changing yet so we'll give him this bottle of milk with his Essence of Age potion. I've tested the temperature and I'm sure you'll know what to do."

Draco nodded as he took the bottle from his godfather and pushed it into Harry's mouth, ensuring the boy was getting only liquid and no air bubbles. Harry drank greedily down as Draco tried to work out how the boy was so small and underdeveloped. Before long the baby had finished, and Draco turned him so he was held with his back to the Slytherin, and burped the boy whilst protecting his hand with a towel in case of any sick-up.

Once Draco was satisfied with the sleepy baby he took him into their joint bedroom. His own bed was identical to the double four-poster bed in his dormitory four floors below, with green and grey sheets, pillows and duvet covers. There were no curtains, so that Draco wasn't tempted to ignore the crying Harry. Adjacent to the bed and parallel to it was a baby's cot. It was on the side Draco usually slept on and decorated in red, yellow, blue and green.

As Draco approached it a purple footed sleeper became visible draped over the edge. With much difficulty, Draco removed Harry's other clothes, checked (with repulsion) if he needed a change (which he didn't), and put on the sleeper.

It wasn't until after Draco had placed Harry in his cot (with his head flat down and feet at the very bottom) and left the room that he'd realised that he hadn't hated looking after his arch enemy, but even worse, he'd actually liked it.

**TBC**

**Yeah I know there's no real cute bits yet but I needed a starting point. Update every Tuesday. Please review. That's it! see you next Tuesday (lol!).**

**Zoe XD**


	2. SHoon

Chapter 2 (AN:- Not too sure of exact days for the appropriate dates

**Chapter 2 (AN:- Not too sure of exact days for the appropriate dates. Stay with me, when I find out I'll change them. also, I can't grasp what the class schedule is, so I'll go by my own-ish)**

Draco was awoken from his peaceful dreamland by a soft sobbing coming from his right. He emerged from his warm duvet and breathed in deeply through his nose.

"What the-?!" he cried, recoiling back to the safety of under his covers, for he had just received a blast of an inexplicably rancid smell. He peeped out to see a two year Harry standing in his cot holding on to the bars. The tears ran down his chubby cheeks, and his eyes were a bloodshot red. Draco gagged at the thought of being at the centre of the gas cloud.

"Day!" Harry sobbed. "Day, peez! No ike! No ike! No, no, no, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOO!"

"Harry," Draco said firmly. Harry, breathing deeply, stopped immediately, avoiding a major temper tantrum and waking the whole castle. "I am going to get dressed first, and then we'll change you. Ok?"

Harry didn't understand everything being said, but realised that Draco was agreeing. "Tay," he whispered.

It was Wednesday, the 2nd of November, so Draco had school. He had been told that he must always bring Harry to his class and keep him with him at all times. Hurriedly, the blond pulled on his school shirt and tie, followed by a crisp pair of trousers and then his socks and shoes, saving his robes for putting on later.

"Okay, Harry," he said, making his way to the cot. Harry reached out his arms and Draco obliged by picking him up. As much as he hated Potter, this new younger version made him subconsciously act like a father. He had, after all, tried to make friends with Harry when they were only 11. Even if Draco was warming to Potter, he doubted he'd be able to Granger when she would turn up to help him (as he'd decided she was the only one close enough to Harry fit for the "job").

"Tingy, Day!" Harry exclaimed, looking up at Draco with watery emerald eyes.

"Yes, Harry. You're very stinky!" Draco said in a strange voice he was sure belonged to someone else, the kind of voice you use when talking to small children. Draco looked into Harry's vivid green eyes and it was then he noticed that Harry was missing something, but at that moment Snape came in with the desired object.

"I've got his glasses, but he won't need them until he's nine apparently," the defence against the dark arts teacher wrinkled his nose and drew his robes over his face at the disturbing smell. "Did you get dressed before changing him?"

"Yeah, I needed to."

"He must take precedence, Draco! Do you need help doing it the first time?" When Draco nodded hurriedly, Snape led the way out and into the next room which would be Harry's playroom. It was decorated with clouds, suns, lightening bolts and umbrellas, along with teddy bears and ABC blocks on the walls as well as being physically there.

"Sick!" Draco nearly vomited at the sight of the room and allowed Snape to take the toddler from his arms. Too bad Harry didn't like this new arrangement. And when a toddler in the middle of his terrible twos phase doesn't like something, the result can be disastrous.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! DAY! IKE DAY! IKE DAY! NOOOOOOOOOOO! PEEEEEEEEEEZ! WUN DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" he screamed, kicking and screaming using all the energy he could muster. Snape, however, ignored the boy and proceeded to show Draco how to change a baby. But Draco inadvertently distracted himself by trying to figure out how his godfather knew all this. Then he remembered that Draco had of course been a baby, and Snape had usually babysat.

"Harry, stop it!" the man said firmly, sharply tapping the boy on the inside of his leg. Harry stopped and looked at the Professor in shock, before relapsing into waves of sobs, thus forcing Draco out of his reverie.

"Day!" he cried, hiccupping every now and then. "Peez, day! Ike Day ike Day! Da-ha-hay!" with the last word, Harry finally began sobbing uncontrollably, just as he had a new nappy taped on.

"Hey, Harry," Draco picked up the boy and nuzzled him into the crook of his neck. "I'm here, I'm here. Shall we get you dressed?" When Harry nodded, Draco proceeded to dress the boy in black trousers, black canvas shoes (think converse) and a black and white horizontally striped long-sleeved t-shirt. Draco told Professor Snape that if Harry needed changing he would just bring him back here, and before they left agreed that Harry would be brought back for a nap at lunch time and then a shorter one after all lessons. Draco then pulled on his robe and they travelled to the Great Hall.

As they started to get close, Draco picked up Harry and was immediately hugged by the small boy. Snape led the way up to the staff table where it was agreed Draco would now sit. Snape gestured him to the empty seat between himself and McGonagall, where Draco obediently sat and placed a now dozing Harry on his lap. Draco started filling up his plate and a baby's bottle appeared for Harry when Dumbledore stood to make an announcement.

"You are, no doubt, all aware that Harry Potter seems not to have made himself known today, but the fact is Harry is up at the staff table. Unfortunately, Harry Potter was deaged, and will not be restored again until mid-May. Please don't crowd the boy or overwhelm him, it is the last thing he needs at the moment," Dumbledore added as Weasley and Granger made to get up and storm to the High Table. "I assure you all that he will be properly cared for, but if you see him wandering the corridors alone, bring him to the nearest staff member immediately.

"Now, some may claim to know of an antidote used in a similar situation, but Harry was slipped a potion that had only been invented yesterday. The culprit is now Harry's temporary guardian under the watchful eyes of the staff. Now, it also seems that Harry has no memories of when he was older and will act like the two year old he is for now. Some of the sixth years may find Harry in a few of their classes."

At this, Dumbledore paused and muttered something to Draco, who answered him.

"Miss Granger, if you could step up to the front please," he called. The girl in question obliged, albeit looking rather shocked and nervous.

"Yes, Professor?" she asked when she reached the table, not looking away from Harry, who was playing with a spoon.

"Draco here has kindly chosen you as the female student to assist him with looking after Harry once he turns six years old. As this isn't going to happen for another eight weeks you aren't needed at the present time, but you will use this time to prepare, if this arrangement suits you, that is," Dumbledore phrased his last phrase in a way that Hermione didn't whether she was being asked a question or not. She made up for this by nodding which could be taken as a yes or nod of understanding depending on what Dumbledore had meant.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore clapped his hands together once in contentment. "Well, then during meal times you may use that time to get to know Harry, though at the moment he has only accepted Draco and only spoken one word to anyone else. Maybe you could acquaint yourselves?"

Hermione nodded and headed round so she was behind the staff table, where she was able to comfortably reach Harry and (_Malfoy! Malfoy! Malfoy! Malfoy! Malfoy!_ she repeated inside her head. After all he was her sworn enemy) Draco. Harry was examining the spoon before lifting it up to Draco and showing him his new miniature discoveries every now and then, Draco looking back at him with an amazed face.

"Hello!" Hermione exclaimed as the boy held up his spoon once more to Draco. She gently pried the spoon out of the youngster's hand. "What have you got here?"

Almost as soon as his piece of cutlery was taken from him, the bottom lip started to go.

"Uh-oh," muttered Draco slowly as he shuffled back up towards his godfather: he wasn't getting caught up in this. Hermione looked at Draco with a curious expression and went to follow him, forgetting about the spoon clutched in her hand. Draco covered his ears but still managed to hear the next-

"**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO IKE! NO IKE! DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! NO! WUUUUUUUUUUUUUN! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**" Harry screamed. He stood up and yanked on the tablecloth covering the staff table, causing everything to drop and spill: Draco only narrowly got away. Harry then ran round to the front of the table to get away from Hermione. Stopping in the middle of the hall he threw himself down, rolled over to his back and started kicking and screaming, making quite a spectacle for the students who had all gone quiet at Harry's first shout.

"Mr Malfoy, perhaps you should take the boy and calm him down, yes?" Dumbledore suggested, handing Draco another spoon. Draco, however, tugged the original spoon from Hermione's grasp and headed for the little boy, who continued screaming after he was scooped up and out of the hall, though the kicking did cease.

Once Draco was back in his own room up in Snape's quarters, he found his bed already made and sat down, back leaning against the headboard and legs stretched out, before lying baby Harry on top of him and slowly and gently rubbing the boy's back.

Wracking sobs soon turned to gentle moans as Harry calmed down, content to hold on to Draco. The older boy was already late for his first lesson, but he knew that Harry got him out of being late to any lessons.

"All done?" Draco asked, with a soft twist to his voice that surprised even himself. Harry looked up with his watery eyes that somehow had refrained from getting bloodshot. "You tired? Headache? Hungry?" Draco added in actions and Harry nodded to each one.

"Wun," Harry croaked feebly when he saw the spoon. He pointed at it and then to himself.

"If you want it, you have to say it," Draco explained. When Harry looked puzzled, Draco said, very clearly, "Spoon."

"Oon," Harry tried.

"Not quite: SPoon," Draco repeated, this time pronouncing the SP with particular emphasis.

"SHoon," Harry replied, emphasising in the same place. Draco sighed. It was much better than the boy just pronouncing the P, as S sounding letters were much harder for little children, according to Dumbledore.

"Good boy," He said, handing over the spoon. "We'll try again later."

…

Not long after, Draco had carried a content Harry to the Hospital Wing whilst the boy played with his new toy. Draco had conjured some string and had tied it round Harry's wrist comfortably and then made a hole in the spoon and soon Harry was unable to lose the spoon.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Draco called uncertainly, pleased when the school healer came into view. "Erm… Harry's got a headache and he's a little dehydrated. I didn't know what to feed him because he doesn't accept anything other than a bottle but I've given him some water."

"Very efficient, Mr Malfoy," the nurse said. She gave harry a bottle of milk with a headache potion in it whilst Draco wrote down on some parchment all the words Harry used and what they meant. "Okay, you're free to go."

"Okay… hang on… why didn't he start screaming in protest?" Draco was quite puzzled.

"I don't know. Yesterday he was the same, it's probably because I delivered him when James and Lily were in hiding and couldn't go to a hospital or St Mungo's-"

"Urgh… A little too much info!" Draco exclaimed.

"All I said was-"

"Mental images!" Draco replied, scooping up Harry and running out the door and down to potions.

The class was half finished when he got there, so Draco decided that he would note down what was on the board and make the potion another day. Harry was content to sit on the desk and play with his new toy whilst Draco, having finished making notes on the potion, noted down details about Harry, a job Dumbledore had told him to do.

"Please cork your potion vials and bring them to the front," came Slughorn's voice. The class did so, creating a hustling and bustling crowd up at the front, but Harry paid no notice until Draco picked him up and carried him up the winding staircase that brought them to the Entrance Hall. As they headed up to Transfiguration Draco watched the boy climbing the stairs for the first flight: he was grabbing tight to each vertical railing and carefully putting both feet on each step. In the end Draco realised it was going to take an agonizingly long time.

"Up, Harry?" Draco asked, holding out his arms to the little boy, who immediately brightened.

"Up, Day! Up, Day!" He squealed excitedly, holding out his arms to the blond. Draco obliged by picking the boy up and within a few minutes they were at the Transfiguration classroom. Harry was set down on the floor by Draco's feet to play whilst the older boy prepared to take notes on the conjuring of animals.

_1 hour later_

"Come on then, Harry," Draco said as he packed up his stuff. When he heard no reply he looked down to find…

Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Zippo.

"Nobody move!" Draco boomed across the classroom. Everyone jumped in shock and looked over to Draco, who glared back before turning his attention to McGonagall. "Harry's gone."

McGonagall had just opened her mouth to respond when they heard what seemed to be a hurricane. The door burst open and the class immediately swarmed out- only to be swept into the wall at right end of the corridor.

Draco, having his wits about him, made sure he had a firm grip on the door frame before looking down to both ends of the corridor. A heap of students lay someway down the direction to his right but when Draco looked to the left he got a blast of cold air and saw no Harry. He was about to duck his head back in when a glint of bright green caught his eye and looked up to find 2 year old Harry Potter scaling the stone wall.

"Ahhh, this could be a problem," Draco muttered. He raised his wand to Summon the boy but the minute they'd made eye contact, Harry had actually let go of the wall. Behind Draco McGonagall gasped, but Harry floated safely down to the blond boy. Once Harry was securely in Draco's arms, the wind switched itself off, much to Harry's displeasure. It appeared the boy had started it with accidental magic and liked what had happened, but Draco knew that he'd find out when Harry was back to 16 years of age. He tried to look in the boys eyes again, but Harry was staring fixedly over Draco's shoulder. Draco followed his gaze.

One of the bust statues from along the corridors had flown in the gale, but Harry had spotted it before the storm ended and kept it going at full speed.

"HELP!" shouted Ron Weasley whose face was in the firing line.

"HARRY! NO!" Draco ordered. Immediately the boy looked back at him with an irritated expression, before kicking his legs and swinging his fists.

"I believe," stated Professor McGonagall, who'd watched all this with a shocked expression for it had ended so quickly there'd been no chance for her to step in. "That it's nap-time."

**TBC**

**AN: Well I got it up lol. I panicked because I didn't know if I could finish (slow MS Word, slow internet connection, dinner which I have on my lap lol, and homework which I need to… start lol but I always get it done). I hope you liked the chapter and don't worry we will move faster soon with some longer chapters, but it is quite hard to judge (I don't write out a plot or ideas or what order or what's in the chapter. I write as I think, so all that came from my head lol).**

**Reviews please? Do you like it or not? Why? How can I improve?**

**Please don't flame my writing style, as it's how I write. I am very precise with certain details but tend to miss some bits of the whole picture. Someone who read this just now for me said how I don't explain certain bits very well but others too much so. Anyway I changed it so it should be better.**

**So comments are welcome about writing style, but don't flame.**

**Zoe XD**


	3. Harry Is Leaking

**Chapter 3**

Even if it was Weasley, Draco was glad he wasn't seriously hurt. When Harry broke looked away from the bust in had lost it's momentum, causing only a broken nose when it hit the red-head.

"No! Day, no!" Harry was kicking and twisting in an effort to get down from Draco's firm hold. Draco, close to dropping the boy, was glad when he realised that Harry's kicks were getting a lot weaker: a sure sign that the boy was tiring. Still, the boy had a spoon and Draco didn't think he'd hesitate to gouge out the blond's eyeballs. Luckily enough they were at the skeleton.

"Charity," Draco said the minute it had started to giggle. After entering he passed an amused Snape who'd stopped in before lunch and lay Harry in his cot.

"Hot!" whimpered Harry, scratching at his clothes. When Draco did nothing he stood up and cried a little. "Tingy, Day!"

Draco sighed as he lifted the boy and brought him to the next room and removed the boy's clothes to change him. When he was all done he went to put the articles back on, but this was met by sobbing protests. It was considerably warm for most November days, so Draco left Harry as he was. Before leaving Harry in his cot alone, he took away the spoon so Harry didn't choke on it by subconsciously chewing it.

"Busy morning?" Snape asked lightly. Draco missed the sarcasm, thinking that his godfather wouldn't have yet heard of the "hurricane" incident.

"Not bad," Draco sighed wearily. "Who'd've thought he'd be such a little… terror?! He has always been much more quiet and well-behaved than this at school, and considering what we've heard of his relatives this behaviour is quite strange."

"Yes, well. Our sources tell us that after this age at one point, he became more subdued. He was locked in the cupboard under the stairs many times for so long, and was mentally and emotionally abused by his family. That's why it's good to raise him again," Snape explained.

"I thought you hated him," Draco stated.

"I did, or more I had him pinned as his father. Dumbledore showed me the error of my ways throughout his own memories. If I don't give Potter a chance, it won't enhance my status. Are you hungry?" Snape gestured to a portion of the same meal being served in the great hall. Draco, after the morning's events, was ravenous. He ate whilst Snape checked in on Harry and departed to the Hall for his own lunch.

After resting awhile, Draco went into his room to rouse Harry and dress him again before giving him some milk, which he realised should've happened first, but in the circumstances was quite impossible.

"Wakey, wakey, Harry!" Draco whispered, stroking the boy's face, who murmured and rolled onto his front, going onto his knees and sticking his butt in the air. Draco laughed and went off to get the milk and clothes for Harry.

In the end he returned with a yellow t-shirt and blue shorts dungarees and a pair of blue and yellow Velcro sandals. He reached in and pulled Harry out before sitting on his bed and bouncing him gently on his knee to wake him up.

"Come on, Harry. I'll be late for Defence Against the Dark Arts," he said, beginning to dress the boy (he could drink his milk on the way there). But Harry didn't like it.

"Hot, no. Day, hot," Harry squirmed.

"Come on, now. If you don't let me put this on I'll take you out dressed like that," Draco said, referring to the boy dressed only in a nappy. Harry folded his arms and stuck out his lip in a pout.

"Hot."

"Fine," said Draco, losing patience. "Fine!" But he managed to tug the t-shirt on; couldn't have him running around as he was. Draco shoved the dungaree things in his bag, put the sandals on Harry's feet, then he grabbed the boy and his bottle and left out the portrait. Looking at his watch he realised he could actually go down the Great Hall for 15 minutes.

"Shoon, Day!" cried Harry. Draco just gave him the bottle.

"Bottle. No shorts, no spoon," as Draco looked back to where he was going, Harry started to cry softly, sucking from the bottle when he realised it calmed him down.

Before they got to the hall, Draco put Harry on the floor so he would walk in just in front. Harry stuck right next to Draco as they walked to the head table.

"Er, Draco…?" Snape started.

"He refused to let me put his clothes on. I saw a tantrum coming, so I thought it was a warm day and if he wants to be embarrassed that's fine," explained Draco, depositing Harry on the table and walking round to sit down.

"What he needs is discipline. When he's a little older I'll take care of the bigger issues of that, Draco. For now you're doing just fine," Snape praised.

…

1 hour and later, Draco was sitting at his desk in Defence, with a slightly irate Harry at the front of the class where Snape was keeping an eye on him. Then, without warning, Snape blinked and Harry was gone.

"Uh-oh," the man muttered, when he saw the boy running for the door. Luckily Harry was intercepted by Ron Weasley, now struggling to keep hold. Draco ran over and carried the boy to the front where Snape was.

"Right, Harry! If you don't stop I'll put your dungarees on!" Draco warned.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Harry, reaching down to rip his nappy off. Draco grabbed his hands and Snape started forwards, both saying "No!" at the same time. The boy whimpered and started wailing at the top of his lungs. At a nod from Snape, Draco left the class and went back to the living quarters.

In silence, Draco changed Harry and put his dungarees on him, then he went in to the main room and sat on the sofa with Harry on his lap. Draco said nothing but gently held on to an also quiet Harry, who knew Draco was upset with him and shut himself up.

Harry needed to tell Draco that he didn't want the older boy to be sad; he didn't like it because it made him sad too. He was also scared, but he didn't know why. Harry needed that word he'd heard his Uncle say to his cousin when he was wrong… he didn't know where his uncle was, but he liked it where he was and decided that if he didn't mention it he wouldn't need to go back. Now… the word! He knew it!

"Solly, day," he whispered. The blond seemed to know what he meant, and smiled at him. But still didn't say anything. When Harry tried to get down, Draco pulled him back and kept him gently pinned to his lap. Not long later that big ugly man with the black hair strode in.

"Snape," Draco said. "He said sorry."

"I should hope so," Snape replied. He used his wand to conjure a playpen in the corner of the room and swept down until he was level with Harry.

"Day," Harry whimpered.

"Harry, listen. You were naughty today. You didn't listen to Draco, did you?" Harry shook his head and looked down. "You were good and you said sorry, and you had your punishment of sitting quietly for a few minutes-" (surely it was longer than that!) "-but next time, you will be put in that playpen for however long we think you should be. You might not understand this but I have explained in case you do."

Harry did indeed understand; only earlier that day he'd had trouble understanding Draco, but now he knew exactly what was happening.

"Harry," Draco began. "You can go and play on your own in there." He pointed to the room Harry was changed in. "Or sit in here and look at some picture books."

Harry didn't want to be on his own, but he was scared of the man. In the end he realised that Draco wouldn't let the man hurt him, so he pointed at the older boy.

"Ok," Draco set Harry on the floor and reached for the wizarding children's book _The Dragon Who Couldn't Breathe Fire_. He gave this to Harry and stepped to the side of the room to talk with Snape.

"I spoke to the headmaster about a bonding charm, but it's against our laws to use one on a child under 10 years old, so he gave me these," Snape explained, pulling out a couple of muggle child reigns. Draco looked puzzled. "You put the harness on and this long part here you hold on to. You may only use it when outside these quarters and only until he is 5 years old."

"Um, ok. Can you show me how to get it on him?" Draco requested, causing Snape to sigh.

"Harry, come here for a few minutes, please," the older man knelt down as Harry scurried over, determined to keep Draco happy. After a quarter of an hour they were practically experts at getting the damned thing on.

…

"Come on, Harry. You've had a long day," Draco mumbled, his voice slightly croaked. They had gone down to dinner and tested the reigns and they seemed to work well enough. That was at 5 o'clock (they'd had dinner early) and now Draco had been completing his homework with Harry drawing at the table for three hours. Snape had only just walked in and chastised Draco; Harry should have been in bed an hour ago at least.

"No… tingy, Day!" It seemed that Harry realised that by asking for a change he could get out of sleep for a bit longer.

"Bath time, then," Draco countered, hoping the warm water would make the boy drowsy. He had expected the boy to be pleased, as this would take up more time. Harry, however, didn't seem very happy.

"No!" he cried as he crawled under the table. Draco, puzzled, reached in and pulled him out, prying Harry's fingers from the table leg.

The struggling pair went into the bathroom and Draco started running the bath. Harry tried as hard as ever to get away. When the boy was totally undressed Draco began to lower him into the warm water, but Harry had other ideas and jerked his arms everywhere.

"ARGH!" Draco nearly dropped Harry, who went silent and still, stiff. He turned his head to see Draco sporting a split lip and quite a bloody nose.

"Hospital Wing, Draco. And get Dumbledore on your way back," Snape ordered, taking Harry from him. Draco complied without even looking at Harry.

The next quarter of an hour went very quickly with neither Snape nor Harry saying a word. When Harry was having his hair rinsed of conditioner he heard the portrait giggle, and a few seconds later there were murmurs coming from the main room.

"Day!" Harry cried. Snape pulled him out of the water and carried him, soaking wet, into the main room. Harry saw Draco looking quite concerned and the old man he kept seeing with an unreadable expression now on his face but the twinkly eyes Harry had liked were gone.

"Hold still, Harry," Snape ordered, setting the boy standing on the ground, who had noticed he didn't have anything on and was trying to get away. When Harry tried to run off Snape caught him and landed a well placed sharp tap. It really wasn't that hard but in Harry's mind the embarrassment seemed to double it up.

"Ouch!" Harry squealed, though he had to admit he deserved it.

Snape pulled out his wand and cast a simple drying charm on Harry, but the very second he did Harry began to scream.

"HOT! HOT! AAAAAAAARGH! NOOOOOOOOOOO! DAAAAAAY!" he cried, his back arching as he threw himself back to the ground in an attempt to get away from the heat. Snape looked bewildered and quite scared.

"AGUAMENTI!" he cast the spell with the reflexes of a cat, and Harry was soon once again soaking wet. He looked up at his saviour and threw his arms round the man's neck with a death grip.

"Er…" Snape didn't know what to do. On one hand he knew Potter wouldn't let go and would keep squeezing his neck if he wasn't held, but the man really didn't want to touch the boy as he was. He tentatively put one hand underneath and the other on Harry's back, until mercifully Dumbledore took him without a second thought, summoning a towel.

"I think," he explained as Snape dried himself off with the same charm, feeling next to no heat. "That Harry is very sensitive to magic at the moment. Any small charm will cause a shock to him or feel enormously exaggerated. Everything will need to be done manually."

"Is it the potion?" Draco asked tentatively; he didn't like bringing it up.

"Yes, from what I have examined of the remains in the potion vial, that is one of the side affects. I did notice that the potion has nothing to do with his immaturity for his age: maybe he was a late developer," Dumbledore added, with a trace of hope in his voice; he didn't like to think that he had caused this by leaving him with the Dursley's.

"Oh," Snape grumbled. "I suppose you'll be unable to use Legilimancy on the boy, then?"

"Not unless you want to live with a very ill boy," Dumbledore sighed. "Do you not remember any memories from last year?" he added in a whisper so Draco couldn't hear.

"No, I… hold on," Snape tried to phrase his words as though he had been told the next piece of information. "When he was a little younger this age, I am aware that his cousin forced him to drink both of their bottles of water, causing Harry to become a little ill and he actually choked and was sick and then… his uncle threw him in the cupboard."

The man looked at each other with anguished expressions.

"His cousin tried to drown him in the bath," Snape suddenly cried, surprised he had forgotten. "Pulled his feet down and wouldn't let go. Only his accidental magic drained the bath."

For five minutes nobody spoke, and Harry, who was now dry, was being held against Dumbledore, effectively mooning the room. It would have been quite funny had the circumstances been different. Then-

"Severus," Dumbledore spoke.

"Mmm," Snape came out of his reverie.

"Harry is leaking," Dumbledore moved the drowsy boy away from his side to show a damp patch on the man's robes.

Draco gasped and took Harry off to change him, then he came back to the main room to put Harry in a sky blue sleeper, eager not to miss anything. Unfortunately Dumbledore, laughing heartily, had just exited, leaving a smirking Snape.

…

"Is it just me," Draco said, placing the boy in his cot and pulling up the covers, now two hours later than it should have been. "Or is this going to be a very long year?"

**TBC**

**AN: I started this on Tuesday evening last week determined to make sure I have a few chapters ready in case I can't write one. Anyway I finish this right before I attempt to connect to the interweb to put it on. You may have picked up on the spelling mistakes: before you ask I don't need a beta the only reason is because all my auto-corrections have been mysteriously reset :suspicious eyes: and I'm working on getting them back or doing them again. So all the red squiggly lines are making my spell checker go slow to load, so except from proof reading which I already do, there isn't much else to help for now until I have time.**

**Oh yes… if you have a preference to what could happen in the story or you've seen popular stories with something I have missed, please let me know. As long as I'm not too uncomfortable writing it I may base some things on it.**

**I know it has gone veeeeeeeery slowly so far… well not really but still… so don't worry I just wanted to drag out the younger years. When he is older he'll still get a good load of chapters but still I'm a lover of the much younger ones. OMG before I forget I won't have a massive plot in here because I am not smart enough lol, but I will have some stuff going on… hopefully I won't make it too angsty, more hidden humour.**

**Thank you to my few select little reviewers! I hope that number will go up soon when I get more of a reputation. And of course please if you do or don't like, then review and tell me why! Even if as you read this there are still loads of chapters, let me know what you think so far! (And for those people who hate others begging for reviews, don't worry I am not begging, its just reviews make me happy. Seriously. There's nothing better for me than the little jolt of joy when I see a review in my inbox lmao). Wow that author note was longer than I'd thought it was going to be…**

**Zoe XD**


	4. NOOO SEEEEP DAAAAAY!

**Chapter 4 (first part focuses on Draco and Snape, then we'll get onto Harry)**

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Draco fell out of bed and held up his wand; he had gained the reflex in the few months where he did not know where his loyalties lay, so he was prepared to use magic to defend himself from anybody. Except-

"Harry," Draco groaned. He was about to pull his uniform on over his black boxer shorts and undershirt (he'd changed the night before) until he remembered Snape chastising him about Harry coming first. Draco looked at his watch: 6:30. That wasn't bad considering all the time he now needed to prepare.

Harry whimpered as Draco placed a hand on his backside; it was from the big man smacking him the night before, it had to be. Draco slipped off the sleeper and undid Harry's nappy. A sight of a raw red rash greeted him, causing him to recoil. Draco redid the nappy back up; Harry, who had sighed in relief at the cool air, began wailing again. Draco paid no notice as he went back to his room and pulled on jeans and a t-shirt before going up to see Madam Pomfrey.

"Mr Malfoy?" Luckily the nurse had been administering a potion to a first year, and Draco didn't need to wake her up.

"Erm, Harry has some nasty rash in his, you know, area," Draco muttered, flushing a dull pink colour. At least Harry would be way more embarrassed when he was older, in fact even now the boy knew what Draco had said.

Madam Pomfrey took the squirming boy and lay him on a bed, removing his nappy.

"Malfoy, you must change him regularly! This is very painful for him; how often did you change him yesterday?" the nurse asked.

"Erm, three or four times…"

"Three or four…?! Right, you go and sort yourself out. If you need to get anything done, go do it now. I will sort this, and give him a proper check-up," Madam Pomfrey ordered.

Her words had barely formed before Draco scarpered.

…

As Draco took his morning shower, did his hair, packed his bag, had a snack-like breakfast, tidied the main room, changing room & bedroom, made the beds and sorted Harry's clothes, Madam Pomfrey used a muggle rash cream on Harry's affected area. Apparently the cause had not been Snape's discipline, but Draco's unknowing neglect.

As Harry lay on a bed with bars pulled up with only a new nappy loosely taped around him, Madam Pomfrey noticed his teeth. They had caused him minor discomfort having stopped coming in altogether for some reason, and the nurse was trying many methods. In a last resort she attempted rubbing BBQ sauce on the gums, only for it to work.

Meanwhile, back in Snape's quarters the man himself was getting up. He dressed and went to the main room, where Draco was munching on some carrot sticks.

"Where's Potter?"

"Hospital Wing," Draco replied, appearing indifferent, as was his nature. Snape's eyes widened in alarm. "Don't worry! It was just some rash from him not being changed; Madam Pomfrey let me come here and tidy up and get ready for school whilst she sorted him out.

Snape's nostrils flared. "If I were you I'd be up there making sure he's happy, unless you feel the need to spend the evening doing a session with me tonight."

Draco gulped. Snape could be pretty harsh on him… being his godfather and all. It was only stupid things, like making him sit and do homework in silence, but it worked.

"You are skating on _very_ thin ice, young man," Snape said, reverting back to the name he used to use on Draco. "Consider yourself lucky that the only reason you haven't got into more trouble is because I am supposed to favour you more than ever in light of the current… situation."

…

Harry wasn't having a very good day. Not only had he been rudely awoken by the worst pain he could remember in a long time, but he had been passed around like the parcel in one of the stupid party games he'd watched at Dudley's second birthday party (the parents had been playing whilst the children swapped incredulous looks and decided they'd play along in hopes of it ending quicker if they at least tried to enjoy it). Then, at breakfast, the big ugly man had shouted at him for accidentally spraying milk everywhere when he bit off the rubber nipple from his bottle.

Even Draco had turned on him, tying that horrible _lead_ to the table legs wherever he sat in class. Harry was not a _dog_, and the others would do well to know that. He would make sure they realised how much they were upsetting him, and he would give them all intense headaches.

…

Draco sat up at the staff table. He glanced over at Harry, in particular his unruly hair. Something needed to be done about it, even if it meant getting up an hour earlier. Harry sensed eyes on him and turned to find Draco staring. He opened his mouth to begin a tantrum.

"Waaaaa_aaaaa_AAAAA_AAAAA_HHHHH!!!!!" The high pitched scream made many students turn their heads in alarm, some even drew their wands. When they saw Harry they just smiled and carried on as before.

"Harry… what-?!" Draco didn't know what to say, but that didn't matter because nobody heard him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO LOOK! NO LOOK! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry went on screaming though no tears fell. He squirmed and squirmed until he somehow came out of the highchair and ran for the door. Ron Weasley pulled out his wand to stun the boy.

"DON'T STUN HIM! NO MAGIC YOU BLOODY IDIOT!" Draco screamed; he wasn't sure if anyone knew of the order that no magic would be used on Harry whatsoever, for fear of expulsion. Draco, ignoring the stunned look from the students, took off after Harry, with the staff following him.

Out in the Entrance Hall, Harry was nowhere to be found.

"Okay, we shall split up," Dumbledore commanded. It wasn't safe for Harry in these dark and desperate times, with trainee Death Eaters at every turn. Even though Harry was physically unable to leave the castle (an age restriction charm which was weak enough not to effect Harry too much, but still effective and because it was so small it was untraceable) a lot of harm could come to him inside the castle, and Harry had a knack for discovering things that could harm him.

"Horace and I will search the dungeons. I'll search thoroughly from bottom up, he'll go down from here. If each teacher takes their floor they teach on, Albus you take the third floor. Draco and Hagrid will take the outside." Snape had taken complete control of the situation and everyone was grateful. "Send the houses back to their common rooms except the Quidditch teams. They can search from the skies until dark, if needs be. If by then we can't find him, we shall call the ministry."

Everyone nodded and went their respective ways, leaving the Filch, Madam Hooch, and a group of teachers who had their floors taken care of. Hooch called over the Quidditch teams and sent them to fetch their brooms and search, even Slytherin, who did it out of allegiance to Draco and Snape. Filch and the other teachers escorted the rest of the students to their common rooms, and then joined the search, the teachers marking the doors of the rooms already searched.

…

Meanwhile, Harry was strolling around the edge of the castle, no longer angry but now at peace with the world. He looked up at a looming castle wall and had an idea. He could, like yesterday, climb the wall using the cracks and then when Draco came out he would jump on the boy's back.

It was getting harder and colder as the boy got further up. When he was still ten feet from the top, he sneezed and let go of the wall completely, only to find himself sitting at the very top of what happened to be the highest tower; the Astronomy Tower. There was no wall high enough that he could have fallen from to land here, but Harry didn't know that he'd inadvertently used magic.

…

"Okay, we'll work in a circle, and at different heights," the Fred Weasley told the Quidditch teams. Everyone was there, every Quidditch team. Fred and George, who had arrived at Hogwarts to "keep an eye on Harry" on the expressed orders of Molly when she'd heard about the accident and who was looking after Harry, had grabbed their brooms when Hermione called them through the floo in the common room and joined the air search.

"Yeah, and it's getting dark so we're going to need to move quickly. Captains wait behind. Chasers, you fly over the forest, keep low but not too low," George ordered. Each Chaser nodded and mounted and flew off.

"Keepers," Fred continued. "Will fly over the lake. Use your wands to light up the area, but apparently you can't use magic on Harry, so you'll have to swim." Again the right players responded and left, Ron with them. Now it was only Beaters and Seekers. They hadn't replaced Harry in the team so only 3 Seekers were there (and 3 captains included).

"Beaters, you need to spread out over the area. Half of you go until the spells stop you moving, the other half only go halfway out and all of you keep an eye on the other people looking, make sure they don't get into trouble themselves," George said.

"And Seekers," Fred went on as more left them. "Fly around the castle at different levels, keeping an eye out in all directions. And captains, we will go high up and keep a look out and check through the higher windows and the towers. Let's go!"

With that everyone else took off, and for the next half an hour they looked throughout the grounds, every now and then the Keepers going down to the teachers for news. George was glancing over the top towers for what felt like the fiftieth time when a slight movement caught his eye. He thought it was an owl, but decided to check anyway.

"Over here," he shouted to the two nearest people, who turned out to be the Slytherin Quidditch captain and Fred. The three flew over to the tower where they found a small boy whimpering.

"Harry?" Fred said tentatively. "You okay?"

"Day," the boy whispered, whose scar gave him away as Harry Potter. George flew closer to him, but Harry shuffled further away towards the boy who looked most like Draco, the Slytherin captain. All 3 gasped as Harry moved closer to the edge. The Slytherin captain reached out his arms.

"Pott- I mean, Harry, come here," he said in a surprisingly soft voice. Harry jumped into his arms, but the slender broom couldn't take the weight, being a Nimbus 2001. Both Fred and George reached out a hand to hold the other boy's robes, and pulled him back up.

"Harry, these boys have stronger brooms than this. They can take you down to see Draco, okay?" as he spoke the Slytherin handed Harry over to Fred.

"Day," Harry nodded. Fred came down gradually, Harry clinging on to him, whilst the Slytherin captain raced to notify the teachers and George told the other searchers on the brooms.

Fred landed lightly and let his broom fall down, he could see George a few metres away in the almost-darkness doing a headcount of everyone. The Slytherin captain came through the doors followed by Dumbledore and Snape, Draco running around the corner and straight for Fred.

"Harry!" he cried, taking the boy from Fred. "I saw you three rescue him, Hagrid went to tell the forest creatures to stop searching. Thank you so much."

Fred raised his eyebrows in surprise; it seemed Harry was a good influence on Malfoy, and Dumbledore was right in leaving Harry with him.

"You, young man," Draco went on sternly to Harry. "Are in so much trouble!" He turned and made his way back up to the school. Snape followed too and after a brief talk with Fred and large points giving to the teams and Slytherin in particular, Dumbledore also made his way up. Fred and George went back to their residence above the Three Broomsticks.

…

"You will need to be stricter with him Draco, and leave this harness on him at all times! And because you didn't do this he caused a full search!" Snape was lecturing a scowling Draco whilst Harry sat in his empty playpen, facing the wall.

"Well, it's not my fault that I don't think he should be locked up! He had enough of that before and we are supposed to be taking this chance to give him better memories of a better childhood!" the blond argued back.

"And that involves the accidental suicide of his 2 year old self?" Snape asked quietly, silencing Draco. "For tomorrow and Saturday I will take responsibility and you will retire to your room at 8 o'clock. I don't care what either of you want, you hear me? You both need some structure," Snape finished as Dumbledore entered.

"Fine," Draco pouted at being treated as though he was 8 years old.

"You won't have to go to bed at that time, but I think Harry needs some varied company, because he is coming too attached to you. And if he falls out with you when he's older, what options will he have then except upset himself further. You know it's for his safety, and I know you care for him," Snape found himself becoming sympathetic. Draco nodded. "Now, go get him ready for bed."

Draco picked up the boy and carried him through to the nursery room, waiting until the door was shut before giving Harry a big hug, happily returned. It really _had_ been a shock seeing the boy in such danger and not being any help.

"Ignore him, Harry. You become as attached as you damn well like!" Draco whispered.

"Damn!" Harry squealed. "Damn! Damn! Damn!" Draco groaned; why do little kids only learn to say the words they aren't supposed to know?

When Harry was ready for bed at 7 o'clock (yes it was only 7pm) he was placed on Dumbledore's lap, who put a stern look on his face.

"Now Harry, this is the second time I have had to speak to you isn't it?" the old man queried. Harry looked down and nodded. He seemed to understand everything that was happening around him and was quite smart, it was communicating with others he couldn't do. "I'll tell you why what you did was so bad. There is a big bad man around at the moment, Harry, and he doesn't like people. If he were to have found you he would have hidden you so nobody could see you, then he'd put you to sleep for a long time, and you wouldn't be able to see Draco. Do you understand?"

Harry's eyes widened. "No seep! Day! Solly!"

"It's alright, Harry. Whilst I am here that won't happen," Dumbledore reassured. He picked himself up and strode to Draco's room and put Harry in the cot. But it seemed, however, that Harry was no longer keen on sleep.

"NOOOOO SEEEEEEEP DAAAAAAAY!" he cried. "NOOOOOOOOOO SEEEEEEEEP DAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

"Harry," Dumbledore said in a dangerous voice. "Stop this at once. Did I not just tell you how safe you are?"

But Harry was beyond reason, he stood and screamed for all he was worth, causing someone to sweep him up and hold him close. Harry fell asleep in these arms and didn't get a chance to find out that the arms belonged to Snape.

…

Draco glanced from behind his shield. He would launch a surprise attack at the least suspected moment. He spotted his target on the sofa, evil smile hitched on his face as a sign of victory. Draco glanced down at his many toothed weapon, but when he looked back up, the target was gone.

"Hi Day!" came a voice from behind Draco.

"ARGH!" Draco cried. He had been trying to get his hands on Harry for an hour. He'd showered, dressed, woken Harry, changed and dressed him and was trying to tame his hair, but Harry, ever the little monster, was succeeding in avoiding it.

"Dah-Day?" Harry stuttered, Draco missing the fact he was accidentally just called daddy.

"Gotcha!" the blond cried, attacking the boy before him with the fine toothed comb. Whatever he did to it, there was no change. Draco had always admired Harry for his hair; even when he'd literally been dragged through a bush backwards it managed to have a good looking quality, whereas in the same situation Draco would look as if, well, as if he'd been dragged through a bush backwards.

"Owie!" Harry whined, especially when the comb scraped his neck. "Kiss, Kiss!"

Draco was stunned. Kiss? Kiss Harry Potter? Well, he didn't think that was legal, he'd get in trouble surely. What if-

"Owie, Kiss! Neck!" Harry cried remembering the body part that hurt was called neck.

Draco sighed as he quickly pecked the red mark on Harry's neck, who whimpered, turned around and flung his arms round Draco's own neck.

**TBC**

**God I'm sorry I ended up posting at a quarter past midnight on Wednesday lol. Sorry it wasn't on Tuesday like I said, although I am in UK so you never know. No real notes today except review please!**


	5. Lon and Lee!

**Chapter 5**

It was Saturday, and Draco was sat at the desk in Snape's quarters. He'd been catching up with his homework for the whole afternoon, and even ate dinner up here. The desk was in the corner of the room, and was only there so Draco was tucked out of the way but still had a chance to observe what was happening.

As six o'clock rolled on, Draco rolled up his final essay.

"Draco," Snape called over, having just exited the bathroom after bathing Harry. "You're to write an essay on the right way to care for Harry. Include sleep patterns, playing times and discipline. You have until 7:30."

Draco groaned but said nothing and went on writing. This was the last day he'd have to endure this… hopefully. Draco scribbled down his entire essay and was finished in an hour, and handed it to Snape, rubbing his well used eyes. Snape looked at him carefully.

"Off to bed," he said in the kind voice he now saved for Harry. "You're tired, and from tomorrow you'll get back to looking after Harry. You're up to date with everything and have some homework done that isn't even set at the present time. I'll put Harry to bed in a while."

Draco was so tired he didn't complain, he sank into the pillows after stripping to his boxers and fell straight to sleep. He didn't even wake when Snape pushed open the door, flooding the room with light. Or when Harry ran up and kissed him on the ear.

Snape grinned and put Harry in his cot, and picked up and folded Draco's discarded clothes. As he closed the door, he couldn't help but notice that Draco reverted back to his old habit of chewing and sucking the knuckles on his left hand.

…

"Daaaaa-aaaaaay," a soothing voice was interrupting Draco's excellent dream. "Daaaaa-aaaaaay!"

Draco wrenched himself from the dream… how he missed the handling of that gorgeous… damn, it was gone! Cursing the way he always forgot his dreams, Draco lifted his eyebrows in an attempt to open his eyes.

"Day!" the voice suddenly shouted. "Up!"

Looking straight ahead, Draco's now open eyes met with a sweetly smiling Harry. The boy started clapping his hands and fell back to sit down. Draco, remembering to tend to Harry straight away, pulled him out of the cot and sat him on the bed. Harry was only wet, so Draco very quickly pulled his jeans from the day before and a white polo shirt before padding through to the next room with Harry.

"What would you like to wear, Harry?" Draco asked as he finished changing Harry. He crossed over to a wardrobe and looked inside. He was planning on taking Harry out to the grounds today, and Dumbledore was rumoured to be casting a warming charm on the lake (but only to about 7 feet deeper than the surface, because the lake creatures needed the cold to survive) so that he could try and help Harry swim and get over his water fear. Draco pulled out two different outfits.

"So, green t-shirt and red shorts or yellow t-shirt and blue shorts?" he held them up as he said them and Harry chose the green and red. Draco dressed Harry with care and was about to set Harry on the ground until he remembered the other night when Harry sparked a full search. Summoning the harness, Harry was put back on the changing table. He started to complain but stopped at a look from Draco.

Draco eventually put Harry down and went through to the main area. He put on his almost new white trainers (socks first of course) and did Harry's Velcro red shoes. Then they both left for the lake.

It seemed that the other students had taken advantage of the warmer than usual lake. Many of them were swimming and diving down. Every now and then someone would forget themselves and go too deep into the freezing water and emerge spluttering. Draco found the spot that only 2 years ago Harry and three others had used for a starting point in the Triwizard Tournament. He mentally slapped himself to stop thinking about Cedric, though he'd appeared to treat the situation with indifference and disrespect, the event had shaken him.

"Day?" Harry whimpered. He was looking towards the water with an air of apprehension. "In?"

"Yes, Harry," Draco knelt on the hard ground and began removing Harry's clothing. He made sure there was a towel nearby and that Harry's clothes were ready to be put back on, then he cast Impervius on the outside of Harry's nappy.

"Now, I want you to stay right here, mister," Draco said sternly, standing Harry right where the water only just came up to. Draco himself stripped down to his boxers which he transfigured into long swimming shorts in a green colour that went down to his knees, then he put his wand holster onto his leg and secured his hawthorn wand there. Many wizards had these and whilst they were mainly for hiding wands in dangerous situations, advertising this in the newspapers had caused Death Eaters in the like to check for the wand. Now it was just a hand place to keep it during sport, namely swimming. They'd even been used in the tournament.

"C'mon mate," Draco said. Harry raised his arms and looked pleadingly at Draco, who picked him up and waded out. He was going to lower Harry down when the boy cried out and grasped Draco's neck, pulling his legs higher. "Hey, what's up?"

Draco knew what was wrong but he wanted Harry to realise there was no danger.

"No!" Harry sobbed. Draco sighed. He cupped his hand into the water and spilled it over his own head. Then he got his hand full of water and blew bubbles until the water drained out. This soon caught Harry's attention and he began to giggle, though the tears still leaked out his eyes and ran down his face. "Me?"

Draco smiled, which made Harry smile, and filled his hand for Harry to blow bubbles. When Harry was done he giggled and Draco filled his hand again and ran it down Harry's back. What Harry didn't realise was that Draco was taking baby steps further and further in and it was getting deeper. A few moments later, after Draco tipped the water over a laughing Harry's head, they made it so far that Harry's legs dipped into the water. He froze and looked down, before his eyes glistened with unshed tears and he gave Draco a betrayed look.

"No need for that Harry," Draco exclaimed, though he did feel a bit guilty. "It's the same water we're been sitting here playing around with. Now, I'm going to sit down now, but I promise I won't let go until your comfortable, okay?"

"'Tay," Harry answered miserably. Draco lowered himself the floor of the lake and sat Harry on his knees facing him. They were both up to their necks in the water and Draco could hear Harry's quick paced breathing, amplified slightly from their both being close and just above water. Draco used his feet to turn and pushed from the back slightly, holding Harry firmly and letting the floating and sound of water and breathing soothe them both, blocking out everyone else to some degree and letting each others breathing soothe them.

"Somebody's tired," Draco said after a while of floating and spotting Harry yawn. He knew it was a bad idea to keep Harry in there when he was tired.

When they reached the bank, Draco checked his watch which was on top of his clothes and saw it was midday. Wondering if Dumbledore had contacts in the ministry where they controlled the weather, Draco lay Harry on his smaller towel, and covered him with a fluffy white one.

"You have a nap, then you can be fed, then we'll have another rest and go back in," Draco murmured as he lay next to Harry and stroked the boy's hair. He became aware of someone calling his name, so he turned. Hermione Granger was calling them over. Draco shook his head and turned back to Harry, only to find him fast asleep. A shadow loomed over the pair of them.

"Come on, everyone is eating now," Hermione was back, and started packing up his things. Then she bent down to uncover Harry.

"Oi! Leave it!" Draco snapped in a whisper. "Look you and Weasley can come over here and eat, but I'm not moving from here. Harry knows this place, and it's shallow so he can't fall in."

Hermione blushed at this for some reason, but she went back and grabbed Ron to bring him over. Draco pulled his shirt back on. The atmosphere was tense as Hermione, dressed casually in shorts and a pale pink shirt, unpacked food she had brought. Evidently she had planned eating with Harry around because she withdrew a bottle and handed it over.

"Can you keep it cool until he wakes up?" Draco requested. Hermione did so, then she conjured a large parasol for the four of them and some sunscreen that Draco planned to put on Harry. Then, silence.

"Look," Draco began. "I know we've had our differences in the past, but can we please try and be at least civil until Harry is back to normal?"

"Well," Ron hesitated. "I don't see a problem with that, but what about the Slytherins and all that? Will they be a problem?"

"Well, Ronald, I can see your point, but Professor Snape is also in charge isn't he? Surely nothing bad will happen," Hermione reasoned. Before Ron could carry on, she asked Draco, "How is he?"

For the next hour, whilst they ate, Draco told Ron and Hermione (how weird it felt to call them by their first names!) about why it was important to keep from using magic on Harry, the words he'd used, the way he slept, his eating habits and the episode with the water.

"Actually, if I feed him while he's sleeping he won't have to wait long before going back in," Draco realised. He gently pulled the toddler onto his lap and fed him from the cold bottle of milk Hermione handed him. Harry stirred a little, but soon went back to sleep. "So… this weather, do you know why it's so nice?"

"Yeah," it was Ron who answered, to Draco's surprise. "Dad told me; Scrimgeour made a deal with him so that as long as Harry was kept safe and contained within Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, then they wouldn't put him in the care of his relatives and as a bonus they would fix the weather around the castle. November will be like this a lot, December will go snowy and a bit of January, then till March it'll rain a lot, maybe halfway through, and then they'll put it back to normal."

"What about the muggles?" Draco enquired.

"They'll think it's something called global warming. It's been around for a while but they'll say to them that it's getting worse," Hermione answered. Draco didn't really want to know what global warming was; if it was to do with weather then the wizards could control it.

Draco found out that Dumbledore was keeping close watch on Harry's wand now, and Harry wouldn't be allowed his wand until he was 16 again. This meant that Draco would be unable to make sure Harry got up to date on his 6th year work because without the practical aspect, the theory was pointless. Harry would not be happy when he was back to normal, having to be taught one to one with each teacher until he was up to date with the work, and that meant once he was 17 he'd have to return to school for summer. They spoke about other stuff until Ron caught a whiff of something.

"I think he needs changing," the red-head choked out, eyes watering. Draco and Hermione fought the urge to laugh.

Draco lay Harry on another towel and changed him, making sure he was entirely clean. He was reaching for another nappy in the bag he'd accioed down when Harry woke up.

"Day," he murmured, squirming a bit to get up, but Draco held his stomach down gently but firmly. "Up! Up!"

"Wait first, then rest, then we can go back into the water, okay?" Draco reasoned.

"'Tay," Harry sighed with an air of resignation. Ron and Hermione smiled in spite of themselves and laughed when Draco blew a raspberry on Harry's stomach. Harry heard them, looked up, squealed, and ran to hide behind Draco.

"Harry, these people want to be your friends, come and be nice and say hello," Draco managed to coax Harry out.

"Day," he said to Ron and Hermione. Draco didn't know whether he should congratulate Harry on communicating, or reprimand him and tell him to say hello properly. He looked uncertainly to Hermione.

"Hello Harry, can you say hello?" Hermione asked kindly. For a second there was a glimmer of recognition in which it seemed Harry was about to remember his life before deaging. But of course not! That would make Draco's life easier!

"SHOON!" Harry shouted, before shoving Hermione hard and making to run for the water. Unfortunately for him, Ron was quick and leapt after him, grabbing on after 2 steps.

"Harry!" Draco gasped. "Do you want me to take you up to the castle? Now, you lost the privilege of going in the water for another hour, young man!"

Harry looked about ready to cry as he flung his arms around Draco's neck.

"I solly, Day! No mad!" he begged.

"I'm not mad at you, but you need to learn to be good. And don't say sorry to me," Draco nodded his head towards Hermione.

"Solly…" Harry whispered, but he refused to go near her for a hug.

"Now, this boy is Ron. Can you say that?"

"Lon," Harry cried happily.

"Meh, close enough," Ron muttered.

"And, Hermione."

Harry had more trouble with this one. Ron thought he'd call her Hermy for some reason, but she got a stranger sort of name.

"Lee," said Harry as though the matter was closed. "Lon and Lee!"

Ron couldn't help it, he started howling with laughter. Draco would have, but he remembered how hard that girl punched.

"Shut up, Ronald!"

"Oh, ok," Ron gasped as he went to stand up. "Sorry Lee."

Ron was giggling as he ran from Hermione, but Draco feared he wouldn't be laughing when she'd catch up with him after their chase.

Harry and Draco looked at each other and both shrugged.

…

"Are up?"

"No, the hour isn't up."

"Oh… are up?"

"For the five-hundredth time, no, the hour is not up!" Draco snapped as he rolled onto his front, letting the sun get to his back. Harry was on his harness which was in turn tied to the parasol. Hermione and Ron had not come back, or so it seemed until the bushy haired girl "rescued" Harry.

"Come on, Harry," she whispered, undoing the straps around Harry. Draco appeared asleep, but she couldn't be too sure. Harry shyly bit the tip of his finger whilst he followed Hermione. When they reached Ron, she immediately lay him down and changed his nappy. Harry was surprised that she knew he needed changing, and wondered if every time he did something, it would be changed. Harry smiled when he realised his new friend was casting Impervius on his nappy, that could only mean one thing.

"Day!" Harry cried happily.

"Get Draco later, Harry. Here, I'll let you sit with your feet over the edge until I'm ready, ok?"

"Day!" Harry nodded. Hermione went to change and Harry watched as Ron jumped in, gasping as he'd come up (his foot dipped into the cold). Harry thought this looked fun and wanted to make Draco proud of him, so he jumped too as Ron climbed back out.

"Harry! No!" Ron screamed. Draco by this point had woken up and panicked. He heard Ron's shout and rushed over. When Harry didn't resurface, Ron dived back in.

It didn't take long to find Harry; he seemed to be drawn to him. It was freezing here, so they'd gone deeper than Harry should be. Ron swam over and noticed that the giant squid was pushing the boy up, who was panicking. Ron grabbed Harry and stroked the squid's tentacle in thanks before resurfacing.

…

"I told you to keep him on those reins from now on, did I not?" Snape breathed dangerously.

"Yeah, but-"

"And you neglected to watch him by sleeping, leaving him alone, did you not?"

"But-"

"Therefore I shall have to speak with Professor Dumbledore, Draco. This is not the first time he's been in danger, and you can't pay the price so you'll have to pack your-"

"Listen!" shouted Draco. They were in their own quarters and Harry was in the hospital wing. "I had him in his reins and he was securely attached to something. Then Granger came over whilst I was sleeping and took him out of them and away from me. They said they'd make sure nobody got hold of him for me by watching from far off, then she took him and let him go in the water. I slept because they said they'd watch him. Happy?"

Snape glared for a second at Draco. He made for the portrait before turning back and looking at Draco.

"The boy is in the hospital wing. Apparently he has come down with pneumonia; I suggest you spend some time with him… he may not make it."

**TBC**

**OK I shall be blunt, of course Harry will make it, but I need some drama. If he didn't make it there'd be no story. Yes I know it's spoiling it but oh well. Sorry I haven't updated in like a month, had some dramas at school lol and I'm trying to focus on that work (yes I know it's the summer and no it isn't working lol).**


	6. Die Rear

Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Hermione was very subdued as she sat outside the hospital wing; she couldn't bring herself to enter. Ron had gone to visit Hagrid to clear his head for a bit. She heard footsteps coming from around the corner, and flinched as she saw Draco, who snarled slightly before entering the hospital wing to see Harry. Hermione now knew there was no chance of going in, so she went back to the Gryffindor common room. Would she still be able to stay with Harry and Draco in a few months?

…

Draco moved to the nurse's office.

"How's Harry?" he asked, quietly. The nurse, though at first seeming stern, softened when she saw Draco. He had obviously been crying, maybe blaming himself.

"Not good. He had a cold before which went unnoticed even by me, and the water was bad for him, especially the cold water. He now has an infection in his lungs which has created fluid so not a lot of oxygen gets through. He is feeling quite sick and has a fever of just over 40 degrees Celsius, so I'm keeping him in bed. I'm not sure if muggle antibiotics will have any effect, so I'm giving him water," Madam Pomfrey explained. "He won't accept food, another symptom."

"Could he not have had it before?" asked Draco. "He didn't want to eat anything before now, maybe this is why."

"Well, from what I have been told, he managed to scream the building down before now," Pomfrey said. "It's unlikely, but you never know. Professor Dumbledore strongly suspects mistreatment at the hands of his relatives, and any more suspicions will lead to a visit. What will be happening with you?"

"Well… they were going to take him and send me home… but I told Snape what really happened and he's talking to Dumbledore," Draco explained, looking around for Harry. "Where's Harry?"

"I'll take you through in a second, he's asleep. What did really happen?" she enquired.

"Well, I was keeping him out of the water for about an hour, because he had just woken up after a nap, then he'd eaten (well, milk but I thought I should keep him out anyway), but he'd been violent a little towards Granger. I kept him in the shade and on his reins, and there was a bottle of water for him to drink from. But Granger came over and let him go when I was sleeping. She had said she'd make sure nobody would do that in case I fell asleep, but then she wasn't watching him when she let him go. Weasley didn't know what she was doing, but he saved Harry when he was in the cold. Snape… he said Harry might not… make it," Draco ended by choking out the words.

Madam Pomfrey nodded solemnly.

"We can't cure him with magic, because even if we could use magic and potions on him, most muggle illnesses and diseases can't be cured. Many also think that we could sure syndromes, deficits and disorders, but it's quite impossible at the present time. I'll take you through to this extra room, here, it's for cases like this where we need to protect students who are very vulnerable and at high risk. It's only been used twice before now."

She moved to the back of her office where there was a concealed door that Draco obviously hadn't noticed earlier. She opened it up and Draco saw a plain white room with a wooden cot and white sheets. The mattress part raised up as the Madam Pomfrey entered the room, showing a pale and sweaty Harry. He wore only a pair of pyjama trousers that were a cyan blue with little cartoon light green dragons peppered over them.

"Here," she said. "This raises up when Harry needs something and someone else is in the room. Right now is the hourly check. It'll raise when he needs nourishment, when he wakes up, if there is something wrong and all the basic needs."

"So, what do you do now?" Draco asked. "And doesn't the magic affect him?"

Pomfrey Vanished the bars and sheets (which weren't being used anyway) and beckoned Draco forwards.

"We listen to his chest," Pomfrey explained, as she produced a stethoscope out of thin air. Draco didn't know what it was, but wasn't bothered at the present time. He somehow knew to be quiet as the Healer listened to Harry's chest. During the quiet  
Draco managed to hear Harry's raspy breaths and bit his lip as the tears welled up in his eyes. "The magic in the room and the cot shouldn't affect Harry, but if it does we plan to stop immediately."

Draco nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He watched as the nurse took Harry's temperature using his armpit, shook her head and fetched a wet flannel.

"He's quite warm, you may use this to cool his body down. Meanwhile I need to change his nappy," she explained, appearing to brace herself.

"I can do that, I'm used to it," Draco offered.

"No, no," Madam Pomfrey insisted. "Harry has diarrhoea right now as one of the symptoms, you're not quite ready for this."

Draco watched as the Healer pulled off Harry's trousers and revealed a thick nappy. She took a deep breath and opened it up.

"Oh my God!" Draco cried, pulling his robes over his mouth and nose in order to breath. He turned away and used the flannel to cool Harry's body down, leaving the unpleasant business to the professional.

"Ok, I'm done," Pomfrey finally announced, replacing Harry's trousers. "I wanted to ask you how Harry was yesterday. Did he have a cold?"

"Erm, I Snape was interacting with him yesterday. But I think he did seem a little off, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it didn't seem right how he went straight to this stage, so I thought maybe it was of the type which originates as a cold or the flu. Or maybe all contributing figures… You should be getting back, you have classes which are very important this year; they shouldn't be missed."

"Ok, but I'll be back before the lessons start. And at lunch, and again in the evenings. Is that ok?"

"Of course," replied Madam Pomfrey. "You are his guardian, it's natural for you to care for him this much."

Draco took one last tear jerking look at Harry before leaving the room.

Since when did he begin to care for Harry Potter?

…

"Draco," Snape said as soon as the boy in question entered the quarters. "You should get to bed; class in the morning."

"Yes, I know!" snapped Draco as he entered his room and slammed the door. He got out a clean uniform for the morning and pulled of his clothes before sliding into bed. He fell asleep looking at the cot.

…

It felt strange, not to be woken by Harry. Draco directed a sad look at the cot and prayed that Harry would soon be there, smiling over at Draco.

Draco had a shower and changed into clean underwear before pulling on his freshly cleaned uniform. He then checked his schoolbag and made for the hospital wing.

When he arrived, Draco found a very harassed looking Madam Pomfrey hustling Hermione and Ron away.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled.

"We have every right to be here! Harry is our best friend!" Hermione stated, her eyes a bloodshot red.

"But, Miss Granger, as I have said, only guardians and specific staff members may see him. Now, if you do not leave, I shall call the headmaster!" Pomfrey threatened.

"No need, Poppy. I was on my way to visit Harry anyway," Professor Dumbledore was saying as he strolled towards them at a leisurely pace. "Now, what's all this trouble?"

"Draco can get in to see Harry, but we can't!" Hermione squealed indignantly.

"Rightly so," Dumbledore said gravely. "Whilst I have explained that you are still welcome to stay with them when the time comes, I feel you must keep your distance until that time. Right now is time for Draco to bond with Harry. We only pass the one week mark tomorrow, yet still many stand in the way of his chance at a proper childhood. Also, I'm sure we need to ensure the safety of Harry when he is in this vulnerable state. The smallest amount of people possible are allowed in."

"So, when he leaves, we can see him?" Ron asked.

"You may be permitted to see him for brief periods of time. If either of you attempt to take control of the situation, you may not get another chance. This will only be the case until the time comes to live together, when you may interact more. That is, if Draco still accepts you into Harry's second childhood…"

"Yeah, I suppose," Draco replied, knowing that one step out of line would be the end for those two. Ron wasn't officially going to live there, but was permitted as a babysitter to stay every now and then. Rumour had it that the pair of them were becoming an item, whether they knew what was happening or not. As long as they kept their hands to themselves, Draco was fine.

"Excellent!" this was Dumbledore. "Now we take this as a cue to enter the hospital and visit the child, whilst these two kindly make their way down to an early breakfast. Madam Pomfrey; you had something to show me?"

"Both of you, actually. First, I need to put these away; it's a selection of methods to help children begin talking and potty training and the like," Pomfrey led the way to the office. "I was skimming through them when those two turned up; I read something interesting that I'd overlooked, but we'll go through that later."

"So, what's happened? Is Harry ok?" Draco sounded worried, but the Healer smiled.

"On the contrary," she said. "I think you should look for yourself."

The door appeared again and Draco hurried through. There, facing the door, sitting up in the cot and leaning against the bars, wide awake, was Harry.

"Day!" the boy cried, but erupted into a coughing fit. Draco was handed a baby bottle of water and he rushed over. Pulling Harry out, Draco noticed the boy was quite a bit lighter than usual. He rubbed the boy's back to soothe him, and then fed him the water. It was quite alarming to feel the heat radiating from the little-un's bare chest due to the fever.

"He's so light…" Draco trailed off.

"Yes, he isn't accepting normal food, even liquidised. Professor Dumbledore wrote to his relatives to find out why… here's the response," the nurse handed him a piece of… well he didn't know what it was or what it was written with, but he could read it (that's just normal paper and biro to me and you):

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_Though we see no significance in what the boy ate 12 or 13 years ago, we decided to reply anyway, especially if you can find a way of keeping him there for the summer (unless you feel we should contact one of your lot about suspicious activity)._

_Dudley followed a healthy diet of sweet milk and chocolates and some fruits. Harry was increasingly stubborn and refused this food. Eventually he started having yoghurt and other smooth or liquidised food, but only through a bottle. He was usually on water and three times a day he'd get something like soup or broccoli smoothie through the bottle. We got him off this when he reached five and a half, because the school didn't allow him a bottle for lunch and peer pressure intervened._

_As for the other subjects: he was potty trained at _(he there were a lot of crossings out) _the normal age. We are not aware of what age he stopped having naps, he spent all the time in his bedroom doing god knows what. The cot we had in the _(scribbles)_ his room was there until he got too big, which wasn't until he reached seven years, and at that point Vernon ripped off the bars._

_For those additional details, he had a dummy he used for god knows how long. We found it in the cupboard._

_Petunia Dursley_

Draco folded up the letter, how could they be so negligent? And to such a sweetie like Harry?

"So," Draco said slowly. "What now? How do we kind of train him up?"

Madam Pomfrey answered. "Well, the thing is, these things take time. You know that every fortnight he ages by exactly a year, nothing in between. We need to focus on his bottle first. It's bad for his teeth, and because we found a red dummy and gave it to him, it may be easy if he has the comfort of the motion and feel. The problem is feeding him in different ways. Our best bet is to go for things like yoghurt with spoons.

"Next priority is potty training. From what I read, it only happens when the child is ready and no amount of forcing will change that. Some children start as early as 18 months and others not until well into their forth year. The entire process with harry could take just over a month, which may mean 2 years. We'll have to throw caution to the winds and try as early as possible. If that fails, it could be later and take longer, so it's a delicate subject.

"For things such as the cot and nap times, you have to judge that by behaviour mainly and size; if we make no progress by the age of 7 with the cot, we'll get rid of it and give him a new bed and you'll have to help him get used to it. Any questions?"

Draco's mind was reeling; all the conflicting information was making his head hurt. "What if it doesn't go well at all?"

"Then we will have a very confused teenager on our hands in a few months' time."

Harry tugged Draco's sleeve.

"Yeah, baby boy?"

"Know what I got?" Harry asked, having forced out the words. Someone had been teaching him words; there was no mention of talking in the letter.

"No, what have you got?" Draco smiled.

Harry's face screwed up in concentration as he struggled to remember the name of the thing he was in hospital for. "I got sick called…" he started, prompting Draco to gaze on in awe; he was brilliant at this vocab lark. "… called… Noo No Na!"

Then again, maybe not.

At least Harry seemed pleased. Everyone stood or sat in quiet contemplation… and then it happened.

Draco felt it first, shaking his arms, then he heard it with the others. Finally he smelt it. Nearly dropping Harry in the cot, he backed away from the farting baby, covering his nose and mouth. Harry found it hilarious when he noticed what he'd done.

"Die rear!" he giggled.

"You got that right, kid!" Draco gagged. "Cor! That's what they mean by terrible twos!"

**TBC**

**Aww, poor Harry! Or should that be poor Draco lol. Sorry for the massive delay; the plan for Tuesday updates is well and truly dead… along with my laptop :sob:**

**Coming soon: More trouble marks the end of the **_**real**_** "terrible twos". This in turn marks the start of "Potty Training: The First Attempt"**

**Arriving on your screens, in like 3 chapters from now.**

**But don't take my word for it…**

**Because I'm pretty much cursed atm so I wouldn't expect things to go my way. **


	7. Terrible Twos, The Real Kind

Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Draco wasn't permitted to take Harry "home" just yet, because every now and then his fever would shoot up, but as Harry would be aging a year in a week, the plan was to get him back before then. Luckily, it was going well, and according to Madam Pomfrey it was likely that when he aged the pneumonia would disappear.

Draco sat doing his homework on the Thursday evening, laughing when he realised it had only been about a week since Harry was deaged. As he thought this there was a call from the other side of the portrait.

"Mr Malfoy?" It was Professor Dumbledore. "May I enter?"

"Er, yeah. Sure, come in," Draco called, packing his things back into his bag. Outside he heard Dumbledore say the password as Draco put his bag inside the bedroom door.

"Ah, well I'm glad to see this place has been kept in order!" Dumbledore said, looking round the room after the portrait closed. Draco noticed him pulling out his wand.

"So, what brings you here, Professor?" Draco asked.

"Well," Dumbledore raised his wand and pointed it at the desk in the corner. Draco watched as it grew into a dining table for 6 people. "Madam Pomfrey has good news and bad news."

Draco just stared as the old man continued to cast more magic on the room. He was amazed at how the man held no emotion.

"And?" he asked, as the wall where the table was extended out to about 4 metres away.

"Well, the good news is he can come home tonight…" Dumbledore said, still with the whole void of emotion, as kitchen units appeared in the new extension. "But there's more bad news. Take a seat."

Draco did so, becoming increasingly nervous.

"3 students have attempted to retrieve Harry from the Hospital Wing today alone. They were each under the effects of Polyjuice Potion. Two of them have been expelled," Dumbledore said solemnly.

"What about the third? And who were the first two?" Draco asked frantically. "How did you find them out?"

Dumbledore, in his first display of emotion to Draco that evening, smiled. "Well, the third was Ronald Weasley, but he was also under the Imperius curse. That was how he was found out; Madam Pomfrey was on her guard and the curse was very poorly performed, making it obvious. Ronald is at home until Sunday whilst we put up better protection again. Unfortunately, there is so much magic around the school we've had to let the weather resume as normal, so no more good weather."

"Right, so now what?" Draco enquired.

"Well, the two students who were expelled were Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who were found to have the Dark Mark on their arms. They were interrogated under Veritaserum and admitted to the plan to get Harry to Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore explained, sighing.

"So, what does this mean?" Draco asked, slightly taken aback. He was also thankful that he never had the chance to get his own Mark permanently burnt into his skin.

"Well, for now we feel it would be safe if you kept Harry in here for meal times except for feasts. Also, until he gets a bit older it would be a good idea to stay inside the castle or at least don't take Harry out. In your lessons we think it better if you stayed away from the students you know are into Dark activity," Dumbledore offered. "It's a good idea if you stay at school for Christmas, too."

"Yeah, I was thinking of doing that anyway, what with Harry having nowhere else."

"Yes…" Dumbledore stood up. "Well, I suggest you go and pick Harry up whilst I make some renovations in here. I will leave a note on the table for your return. But there was one more thing."

"What was that?" Draco asked, also standing up and heading to the portrait.

"I was planning on a… visit to Harry's relatives on Saturday. I wanted to know if you would accompany me. It's only to check their cover story and root around for a bit, nothing drastic. Will you come along?" the headmaster asked.

"Er, ok," Draco agreed, not knowing what to expect. He left the room after Dumbledore nodded, in order to collect Harry.

…

BANG!

SMASH!

CRASH!

"AAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Draco paused with his hand on the door to the Madam Pomfrey's office, wondering whether or not he should turn back. There was a 7th year in one of the beds, watching him with a smile on his face.

"It's been going on for ages," he laughed. "That Potter must have been a right handful when he was little."

Draco groaned as he pushed the door open, and considered running after he noticed what was inside.

Every cupboard was emptied out, some cabinets had been ripped clear off the walls, paper had flown everywhere, potions had been splashed all over the walls, ceilings and floor. The window was totally smashed with glass everywhere. Harry stood at the far wall with an outraged look on his face, whilst Madam Pomfrey stood nearest the door with a potty in her hand.

"NO!" Harry cried, grabbing hold of his pyjama bottoms and pulling them as high as they could go.

"Errr…" Draco let himself known, and Pomfrey turned right round. Draco saw that she had a black eye.

"Harry, it seems, doesn't feel the need for potty training," she said, indignantly.

There was a slight silence, punctuated by the 7th year laughing outside the door. Pomfrey had a murderous look in her eye.

"I need to adminster Carlton with his potion, please take Harry and leave," Pomfrey said stiffly, stalking out the door.

Draco looked sternly over at Harry, who still had hold of his trousers.

"Harry…" he growled, eying up the potty that had been broken in the mayhem. He bent and picked it up.

"NO!" Harry shouted again, but then shrank back at Draco's glare. "See did it!"

"What did she do, Harry?" Draco asked.

"See… see… see… NO POTTY!" Harry burst into tears at this, so Draco went over and picked him up. The boy was obviously distressed so after Draco mended the potty he made a promise to Harry.

"Right, I promise we'll leave this for now, but we have to do it soon, and you know why?"

Harry shook his head as he buried it in Draco's shoulder.

"Well," started Draco as he began to mend things around the office. "You need to learn to use it so you can become a big boy. Then you can do lots of things for yourself instead of me having to do everything for you, and you can grow up. Understand?"

Harry nodded again, but he was glaring into Draco's shoulder; if that was what happened, he wouldn't do it. No way would a stupid _potty_ get between him and Day.

…

Even though Harry had only just got better, that meant he was going to get into the swing of trouble he'd never got fully started on. Draco had successfully kept Harry in the playpen for 4 minutes because of the havoc he'd wreaked back in the office. The only reason for this, however, was because Harry was tired.

"Time for bed, Harry," Draco announced, lifting Harry out of the playpen. "You want your new pyjamas or your old ones?" Draco secretly hoped Harry would choose new, as this would indicate he was growing up a bit mentally.

Harry looked down at his pyjamas with the dragons; they were ones where Draco had only seen the bottoms before. He pointed at them and was happy when he saw Draco smile.

"Make cold?" Harry asked.

"You want me to make them cold?" Draco replied. Harry nodded frantically. "Ok, I'll do that in a second. Are you hungry?"

"No. Me eaded. Lady fooded me," Harry said in a tired voice. Draco smiled at the way his words came out strange, without noticing that Harry saw this. He carried Harry through to the play room and changed his nappy, then he took the pyjamas and shook and waved them around to cool them down. Harry laughed, but got moody when he had to put them on.

"Come on, Harry," Draco said sternly. "Are you going to put them on or am I going to have to force them back on you? And that means more time in the play pen tomorrow."

"On! On!" Harry cried, tearing up. He was tired which meant his emotions were a little out of whack. Soon Harry was tucked into his cot and Draco stayed for a while watching his temporary child fall asleep. By the time he was it was midnight, but Draco was still wide awake. He returned to the main section of the quarters and picked up the note he'd been left by Dumbledore. He'd planned to leave it until Harry was asleep and he'd spent the minutes Harry was in his pen completing a conclusion on his charms essay.

The note was in Dumbledore's slanting handwriting.

_Draco_

_You have now picked up Harry and are back. I have made some changes to the quarters. The rooms are all the same where you sleep, but I made adjustments in preparation for the coming months. The dining table is new as is the kitchen unit, as you will both eat your meals up here. House elves will send up food being served to the rest of the school, but the kitchen units are filled with other options for each of you there._

_The cot has been reinforced and in the night a bed will be put in Harry's bedroom, please try and get Harry in to this soon, but don't worry; it's not of great importance right now. There is a dummy in the fridge that Harry can use for now._

_You may find potty training quite impossible, so leave it in plain sight and the morning Harry is 3 try him again, if this fails, try a week into the third year of age. If this still fails, we take the no nonsense option when he turns 4. Too much pressure and things could go badly._

_On Saturday morning I will fetch you and Harry will be babysat in the staffroom by the teachers. It will probably take the whole day and I will tell you the details on the actual day. Until then, I suggest you get some sleep, as now all illness was quickly flushed out of Harry's system, his terrible twos will be come a lot more evident. It's because of this you will only be required to attend your lessons between break and lunch tomorrow._

_Good luck,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

"Great…" Draco croaked out. He looked in the kitchen area and found some hot drink which made muggles sleepy. Before long he was crashed out on the sofa.

…

"DAY! NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A high pitched scream was coming from Draco's room, and Draco knew it was Harry. He woke himself up a little and looked at his watch; 5 am. He'd kill that kid.

Walking through the door of the room, the light illuminated Harry's face and Draco saw he was red with frustration, anger and a degree of fright.

"NO!" he shouted. "OUT! OUT! ME OUT… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

Draco pulled the boy out of the cot and back to the main room, Harry was happy at this, but not when he saw they were heading for the playpen; the empty playpen. Draco was silent as he placed Harry inside and went to fetch a pillow and blanket.

"You do not shout in the night, understand?" he said sternly, he had before this time told Harry this. "Any more and Snape will be having words with you."

Harry didn't like this. He stayed quiet until Draco left for the kitchen area, and then he climbed out. There was a door here he'd never entered and he wanted to explore. Inside he found the big scary man in bed, sleeping. Harry toddled over and leaned up to the man's ear…

…

In the kitchen Draco had finished hopelessly preparing a baby breakfast for Harry, but he knew full well that nothing would happen until next week. There was a back-up bottle of milk and one of apple juice just in case.

Then he heard it.

An ear-shattering screech coming from Snape's room. Draco span round; there was no Harry and Snape's door was open. This would not be good.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE- OOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWCHHHHH!!"

… so not good.

Snape came storming out of his room with a crying Harry under his arm; Draco noted the man was limping.

"Errr…" Draco didn't know what to say.

"No more 'mack!" Harry cried. "NO!"

"Harry! Calm down!" Draco tried, but it wasn't possible. Snape set Harry down and left the room in his night things, and Draco didn't know what to do. Harry picked up everything within his reach as he ran about, including books and clothes, and ripped them into oblivion.

"Shit…" Draco mumbled, real quietly, but Harry either heard him, or already knew that vocabulary.

"S'IT! S'IT! SHIT!" he cried. "DAMN DAMN! NOOOOOOOO!" the young boy fumed. Draco tried to stop the boy but got a deep gash in the cheek for his trouble. He had no idea why things had suddenly escalated. Within a couple of minutes, Snape had returned with Dumbledore, and Molly Weasley appeared in the fire.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore boomed throughout the room. Harry immediately stopped and ran to Draco.

"Daddy," he sobbed. "Daddy, I solly!"

Draco was shocked at his new name, but picked up the young boy, as everyone stared on. Draco sat the boy in a highchair in the kitchen, whilst Dumbledore and Snape spoke and repaired the quarters. Molly followed Draco.

"Draco, you have to believe me," she urged. "In his head, there's something there that's telling him to do this. My Charlie was _exactly_ the same! Back then legilimancy on children was legal if it was for the benefit of the child, and he didn't want to grow up, in a nutshell. Every child is like it at one point, but it's quite severe sometimes. He grew to love you after memories of his own childhood to this age, you've been so good. He thinks if you make him grow up and be independent, that he won't need you and you'll pay less attention to him, and you know that will happen."

Draco thought about her words, and they made a lot of sense.

"How do we stop him?" Draco asked, knowing the implications of giving a troublesome child a lot of attention.

"Well, you do the normal; praise when good, ignore and scold when bad. With our boys after the first two we knew though we didn't like it, that punishment had to be something they dreaded, and it was. Very rarely were they in much trouble. With Charlie, though, when he got older with more independence we would go over the top with the praise, and got everyone else in with it, but he was only interested in me and Arthur. When we thought we were getting nowhere or heading for a relapse with him, it would be more encouragement as it got better. Then when he reached about 10 we explained to him why he was treated differently, and how we loved them all and we would always be behind him for support, like the others, he accepted it. And now look; he's off in Romania!"

"But how do I deal with this?" Draco asked. There was a sobbing Harry, a fuming Snape, Dumbledore who was watching his every move and only one person in the room was an expert. The expert took Harry out of the highchair and sat him on a counter so the boy was looking into her eyes. She allowed him the time he needed to calm down, and Harry decided this nice looking lady was worth listening to… then he'd resume his tantrum.

"Are we calm?" Molly asked, softly but quite firmly. Harry nodded, hiccoughing simultaneously. "Good. Now, what did you do to Snape?"

"'Nape?"

"That man, there," Molly pointed at Snape, who had calmed down for a talk with the headmaster.

"I sckeemed his…" Harry didn't know the word for ear so he pointed. "Den he 'mack, so me-" Harry made a biting or chomping action "-his leg."

"Why did you do this?" Molly asked. Harry's answer was indignant.

"'Mack me! Yots and hard!"

"Yes, but why did you scream in his ear? He was asleep. You don't like being woken up do you?" Molly asked. Harry shook his head. "Do you know you were bad?" A nod. "Now what do you think we should do?"

Draco was still watching intently.

"Errr… me solly 'Nape. Den pen. Den hungy. Den bed," Harry explained, and Draco was used to his talking (though it had seemed worse than usual… maybe he was tired) so he knew what Harry wanted to do. What's more he fully agreed.

Within time Harry had apologised to a grudgingly accepting Snape (Dumbledore stamped on his foot), done a total of 10 minutes in the pen, accepted a bottle of warmed up milk, and was put to bed for three more hours until 8, or maybe longer because Draco wasn't needed in class until after break, but he didn't want to break Harry's sleep pattern.

"Now what?" Draco moaned. He seemed to say this phrase a lot.

"Well," Molly started. "Thing is a while back I wrote a collection of parenting books, but I didn't want them published until the kids had left school. The methods can be unorthodox, but theres nothing physical meaning pain punishment, and the methods really do work. I used them with my kids and they know when not to leap over the line, though every now and then… I suppose that's teenagers."

Dumbledore cut Molly off before she started rambling.

"I think some kind of reward system will be good for Harry, as well as a few hours of quality time with Draco per day after what we heard Molly saying. This is a very delicate subject, though, and until we speak to his relatives we can't change much for fear of confusing him.

"On that subject I need you to spend most of… today preparing Harry for tomorrow. We may not get back until Sunday morning, so Harry needs to be fully aware. Molly, that clock…?"

"Yes, Albus," Molly seemed to suddenly remember something. "My second cousin Wilfredinia made this just for you, as a thanks for your services last year."

The red-head withdrew a large clock from a pocket, which was strange because it shouldn't have fit. Ah, the wonders of magic. There were 5 hands on it; each had a symbol, colour and name on it. It looked like it had come straight out of a child's bedroom. There was black and yellow with a lightening bolt for Harry, a snake and green and gold for Snape, a dragon and green and silver for Draco, a book and blue and red for Hermione, and red and gold and a lion for Ron.

"This will stay in the main room of wherever Harry lives until he re-ages back to normal. The hands point to different places; Mrs Weasley has the same thing at her home," Dumbledore explained. "Harry will take this to the staffroom, or rather you will when he stays there, to see where you are. Professor McGonagall will take charge, because Professor Snape needs a break, so he tells me."

"Ok," Draco sighed; it was better than nothing. "It's a shame we could use Dual Tracking spells where each person knows where the other is. But he can't have magic on him…"

"Oh yes," Dumbledore laughed. "The reason he doesn't accept magic, is not from your potion, we have deduced. The essence of age did that to him, and the potion now carries this dire warning in books and apothecaries. Now, I leave you both to sleep." He left.

"Ok, dear," Molly pulled herself up. She looked at Draco's cheek and mended it, but it was left for a while so a scratch would remain. "I will send those books soon."

"How's Ron?" Draco quickly remembered to ask.

"Better, a little shaken up, but he's fine. I'll tell him you said hi," Molly informed Draco.

"Ask if he wants to stay in the quarters for a bit. Tell him I will explain to him," Draco elaborated somewhat. And also the night Harry goes up a year.

"I'll do that… and Draco…"

"Hmmm?"

"Take care of yourself."

**TBC**

**Woo! Hey I'm 16 in a week, probably an update then and maybe some birthday wishes? Lol, I'm joking, but you're quite welcome. I might save up for a new laptop xD**

**Tell me what you like/hate bout this story/my writing style. This was rushed a bit as I feel a little bleurgh and needed this up soon if I wanted to update/start other stories. Thank you for reading… please review?**


	8. Deaths in the Family and Finding Tom

Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Surprisingly, Draco was up and felt refreshed at 8:30. There was a slight smell coming from Harry but the boy was sleeping and Draco felt he still needed to to get better. There was still dried salt on his face from crying the night before, and Draco decided to try and bathe him before his double lesson later. However, he did get his old camera from his trunk and snapped a few pictures of the sweet Harry, currently smiling in his sleep.

Draco took the quickest shower he could remember in a long time, and then quickly checked on Harry again and grabbed fresh clothes so he wouldn't wake Harry as he dressed. In the main room he cast a spell on the door of the bedroom, so he could see in as though the door was open, with light and everything, but Harry couldn't see out and it looked the same from the inside.

After he was changed, Draco ate his own breakfast that was sent up, then prepared two options for Harry, some slices of apple and a bowl of cereal with orange juice in a sippy cup type thing, or a large bottle of milk, which Draco was sure Harry would choose. He set them on the table, and moved through to the room; when he opened the door, the spell was designed to break.

"Harry? Wakey, wakey," he called softly, and when the boy made no movement he pulled him out, held Harry to him and went through to change him. Halfway through being changed, Harry cracked an eye open but slammed it shut as the light got into it.

"Daddy…" he murmured. Draco swore mentally; he had banked on Harry forgetting this name, but he didn't know whether or not he really should stop him. Apparently it was the wrong thing for now, and they would have more information by tomorrow. Draco was still undecided as to what he would think if it carried on.

"You alright, Harry?" Draco asked.

"I yuv you," and he fell back to sleep. Draco paused for a few seconds and looked at the boy's face. Then he pulled himself back together and finished up before taking Harry back out. When Harry was picked up he hugged Draco's neck. He was so sweet… when he was sleeping.

"No…" Harry complained lightly as Draco set him in the highchair. A look from Draco shut him up. Draco thought things were going well when he put the options of breakfast on Harry's highchair table and Harry reached for the cereal. Unfortunately the smile was wiped off his face when Harry threw the bowl across the room. Then the sippy cup, then the apple slices.

Draco was shocked; after the night before he had expected no trouble. Harry glared with a defiant look and started sucking on the bottle. Draco remembered what Mrs Weasley had said about the attention thing and he started clearing up, completely ignoring Harry. Harry noticed this and sat sulking; what would he have to do now?

It took over half an hour for Harry to finish the bottle, by which time he was wet again. Draco picked him up to take him for a bath, and instead diverted to Harry's room-to-be. He lay Harry on the counter.

"Wha dat?" Harry asked, looking to the opposite wall. Draco turned and saw a small child size bed with the headboard against the wall. He never noticed it before.

"It's a bed," he explained.

"Wha dat?" Harry asked again.

"You sleep in it, it's like what I'm in when you're in your cot."

"Who der?" Harry asked.

"You will sleep there, at some point," Draco explained. He left the new nappy for after Harry's bath and set the boy on the floor, missing his expression of horror. "Go ahead to the bathroom, ok?"

Harry nodded and toddled through the door ahead of Draco, who sat him on the closed toilet lid whilst he ran the bath.

"Now, Harry. I want you on your best behaviour in the bath, is that understood? If you aren't you will be in trouble with me and Snape. No splashing, messing with the water or doing anything I say not to, it's dangerous so you do as I say," Draco said firmly, as the taps finished with the water. Harry nodded frantically, desperate to please and make his Daddy Day happy so he wasn't forced into that _bed_.

Draco smiled and pulled Harry's pyjama top off of him, then lifted him over to the bath. When he turned back round he noticed a puddle on the toilet seat.

"Harry, why didn't you say you needed to go," Draco sighed. Harry looked down, he hadn't realised until he moved and felt the liquid around him.

"Solly, daddy," he whimpered. "Me no no!"

"It's ok mate," Draco stroked Harry's hair. "You're in no trouble. Don't worry about it just yet."

Draco used up 20 minutes playing games with Harry which mainly consisted of filling up different bottles and beakers of water and filling each one with another. This was because he needed to get Harry to enjoy his baths, and the boy enjoyed this activity. He was going to start washing Harry's hair when there came a distant knock at the portrait.

"Hello?" he called, staying in the bathroom with Harry. Dumbledore's voice replied and Draco told him to come in, resuming the hair washing.

"Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore spoke from the doorway. "I'm afraid our plans have changed. I am afraid I need to make another stop after we go to Harry's relatives, so we need to leave at midday. I came to help you prepare Harry."

Draco was a little shocked. "Ok, I'll need to hurry his bath then." He quickly but thoroughly washed and rinsed Harry's hair with shampoo and conditioner, then stood him up and washed everywhere else. After this he quickly dried the boy and carried him through to the bedroom.

"Here, I'll dress him," Dumbledore offered, tucking his beard over his shoulder and placing a nappy on a confused Harry. Then he put and purple t-shirt with a yellow cartoon baby dragon on him and a pair of elasticated jeans. Draco threw over a pair of purple sandals as he quickly packed and overnight bag prepared for two nights, just in case.

"Daddy, wha happen?" Harry asked, a worried look on his face.

"Oh Harry, don't worry," Draco gave the boy a hug and picked him up. "Daddy needs to go with Professor Dumbledore for a couple of days. I need you to be a very big boy, for me. Can you do that?"

Harry scowled. "No! No big boy. Me BABY!"

"Harry, I have no time for this. Be a good boy for me for the next two days ok, then you won't have to be a big boy when I get back. Ok?" Draco asked, though he knew he was giving in.

"Pommiss?" Harry looked suspicious.

"I promise. Now, will you be good for the teachers while I'm gone?"

"Teesserss?" Harry frowned. What in the name of God was his daddy going on about?

"Big people like Professor Dumbledore, here," Draco pointed at Albus, as the pair and Harry made their way to the portrait. "You must be very good, ok?"

Harry sighed with an air of resignation. "'Tay… Tiss doe…"

Draco inwardly groaned. Not another kiss. He pecked Harry on the cheek as they swept out the portrait.

…

"No!" Harry cried, as he sobbed into Draco's shoulder. "I wid you!"

"Harry, you told me you would be good."

"Draco, just leave. We will take care of Harry," Professor McGonagall was outside the staffroom, attempting to peel Harry from Draco, but she jumped when Harry's screams went an octave higher. Draco knew he had to revert to "baby tactics".

"Hush, now, baby Harry," he whispered into the boy's ear. "Now, I want you to be good to these nice people. And when I get back you can have a bottle and a cuddle with daddy, would you like that?" Harry nodded. His daddy wasn't trying to make him big.

"I yuv you," he sobbed gently, hiccoughing every now and then. Draco handed him over to McGonagall only to get little protest.

"You have a nap, then an early bedtime, and the same tomorrow. The more fun you have, the less time it'll seem I'm gone, okay?"

"'Tay, daddy."

…

Draco avoided Dumbledore's gaze as they headed to the front gates. He was trying hard to forget how Harry thought of him as his dad, and how he knew things wold end in May.

"You handled that well, Draco. You will make a great father one day," the old man said.

"Yeah, it's too bad I'm quite alright with Harry then isn't it?" Draco scowled defiantly. In his mind he could have kicked himself; after only two weeks he had become soft.

"You don't know what he thinks about this, yet," Dumbledore replied, lengthening his strides.

"What?" Draco asked, incredulously. "You mean there's something after that could happen?"

"Come along, Draco. These things need to be done quickly," Dumbledore said with a note of finality in his voice. Draco knew not to push it further… just yet. That was the thing with Slytherins; they knew when to stop, but they tended not to, or didn't know when the time would come where they'd be able to start up again.

"What if the Death Eaters find where I am, or see us?" Draco asked.

"We are under a charm, invisible to only those against our side, or that would be our side, if you were on it?" Dumbledore used a tone that made Draco unsure if it was a question, so he just nodded.

"If I was un-loyal, surely I'd be unable to see you? Doesn't that prove something?" Draco pointed out, this time to a nod from Dumbledore. "What's the plan, then?"

"Well, firstly we need to go to Harry's relatives, the Dursleys. I also need your permission to use your memories of this visit as well as my own, because this was things are much more accurate, agreed?"

Draco nodded.

"Good. Now, we search the house for any information on mistreatment. I have had people watching the place, and I have been told that none of them have left the house since last night. I don't know what we will find, they might be fine, but be on your guard."

Draco felt worried at that comment, but by this time they'd reached the gate, and in time they were through. Draco was instructed to clutch the old man's arm for side-along apparition and the pair vanished and then reappeared in a muggle street.

Draco couldn't help but sneer a little; muggles still subconsciously made his skin crawl. Dumbledore strode up to one of the identical houses, but the only one with a car on the drive. There was a terrible smell emanating from a closed door assumed to be the living room, but Dumbledore shooed the boy upstairs whilst they made their investigations. Draco did every room and even the attic, basically just looking around for things out of the ordinary, though he knew Dumbledore would be having more luck. In Harry's room he found photos of the boy's parents and Harry as a baby, and he gathered those up, as well as a small toy bunny which looked like a comfort item. He went down to Dumbledore who had a pile of documents on the kitchen table.

"Draco, sort these out. I want anything to do with either boys; letters home from school, certificates, anything even vaguely referenced to the boys, and then I give you permission to shrink them with magic so they are easier to carry around. Meanwhile I will search in this cupboard and then I think it is time for us to go."

"Why?"

"I just checked the living room, and this isn't the best situation we could be in."

…

Harry woke up. He looked around him and saw the familiar bars of a cot, which was reassuring, but beyond that he was at a loss as to where he really was. He stood up and looked over to where he was used to finding Draco, and began crying when he saw he was in a completely new room. The door soon opened and the lady who Draco gave him too came in.

"Oh, Harry. What's this fuss?" she cooed. With a flick of her wand the cot acquired a changing table, which McGonagall put to good use. After she changed Harry she took him through the door where all the other teachers were.

"No," Harry started sobbing. "Daddy!"

"Harry, daddy went somewhere, remember?" McGonagall said. He'll be back very soon. For now you are going to spend that time with me because Snape is busy and I had the day off. Now, lets get you something to eat."

Professor McGonagall was trying to get Harry onto solids with a no nonsense approach.

Foolish woman.

_5 minutes later_

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry screamed, chucking the bowl of rice and chicken across the staffroom, and showering the occupants with the food. "NOOOOO!"

McGonagall winced as Harry's voice went an octave higher. She really didn't want to give in to the boy, but when he started sobbing and screaming for his daddy, she gave in, even though she knew it meant Draco and not his real dad.

After two more unsuccessful events, particularly with a chocolate mousse, McGonagall gave Harry a bottle of milk, but Harry had passed sad because of his food and had already hit distraught and angry for his daddy. He threw the bottle to the floor where it smashed and wriggled out of the highchair he was sitting in.

Within minutes the staffroom looked like a bomb had hit it. Had Harry been much older McGonagall would probably have given him more than the odd smack Snape had done before now. As it was she was surprised she hadn't done that already.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" she bellowed. Harry stopped in his tracks, then threw himself to the ground in his milk and bawled for his daddy.

The teachers spent no time in cleaning up the staffroom, but some essays had been ruined with milk or torn up by Harry, and so they new that the students would have to rewrite them and would not be happy. McGonagall spared a glare for Harry and looked around. They had no playpen, so she would have to improvise.

"Come here," she scooped Harry up and sat him in the corner, with his back to one of the walls. "You will stay here until you calm down, and then for another two minutes."

She walked off. So did Harry.

They played chase _all_ day. Harry had fun. McGonagall didn't.

When Harry's bed-time rolled around at 7pm the boy seemed tired but happy. He came out from his hiding place with a stupid smile on his face, which was wiped off when McGonagall picked him up and made his backside sorry.

"I have four hours chasing you around, I have had no dinner, I have had to rely on the other teachers to make an announcement to the school, I have other students that need looking after who have had family members killed in the week, and you have taken up their time with a cat and mouse chase. Well, you can just go to bed in here in this cot until I go back to my own quarters, then you will come with me," She steamed, over Harry's crying. She changed Harry's nappy and set the boy into the cot which had been moved to the main staffroom. Harry yelped and turned onto his side as he drank from the bottle McGonagall handed him.

"I never would have thought he'd be this much trouble," Flitwick squeaked from behind the salvaged essays he was marking.

"Really, you didn't?" McGonagall asked, incredulously. "I had the impression he would. And mark my words, tomorrow Snape will give him a stern talking to and Draco shall hear about this."

…

Dumbeldore had used some kind of communication device before they left. It was wired into the wall and he pressed three buttons before he spoke. After that was done he beckoned Draco into the back garden and the pair waited for something. Soon a far off siren could be heard, at which Dumbledore told Draco to grip his arm again. When the flashing blue lights were seen, he told Draco they were leaving and twisted into Apparition.

The pair appeared in the middle of a floodlit sports pitch with a rectangular arch on each end.

"What was that about?" Draco gasped.

"They were police men and an ambulance. They came to see the Dursleys."

Draco didn't know what either of these things were, but played along with it.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because… the Dursleys are dead. Now, we need-"

"WOAH!" Draco shouted, causing an echo. "What do you mean, dead? How?"

"Somebody killed them in the muggle way, but there is something more urgent I need to see to, and I am afraid it takes a 12 hour walk there, and obviously back again."

"Are you joking?!" Draco cried. "It had better be a way to defeat Voldemort or I'm off."

"As a matter of fact, it is. You read my mind, Draco," Dumbledore chuckled, even though it wasn't a laughing matter in all honesty. "Recently there has been an outbreak of Death Eater activity, but have you not noticed that since Harry was deaged, Lord Voldemort stopped all his own trouble-making? Does that strike you as odd?"

"Oh… yeah, now you mention it. So how do you know what to do?"

"I put a tail on some Death Eaters who are unsuspecting and they all come back to the same place, our spy has also told us where to go," Dumbledore explained. "And no, I do not mean Professor Snape, but another."

"Who?"

"Not here, Draco," Dumbledore said. "Wait. For now, we should get going."

As he said this, a light shone up around them from a large square around them in the ground and found themselves in a large underground cavern, and they began their exhausting walk, taking no breaks.

…

By 7 in the morning they reached a small gap in one of the rocks, which wouldn't have been obvious had they not been walking through an identical section of cave over and over and over. Dumbledore stopped.

"What's in there?" Draco whispered. He felt he had to, and in any case, he was tired and thirsty with a sore throat from the night's exertion.

"Take a look for yourself," Dumbledore said in a low tone, looking straight ahead with a sombre expression.

Draco complied and looked straight through the gap, hesitating slightly. He saw what appeared to be a dungeon cell. There was a small naked child, about Harry's current age, laying dead in the centre of the room. This was strange.

And something was wrong.

Very wrong.

**TBC**

**O.O**

**Sorry, a semi-cliffy and not much Harry. You might be able to guess who the child is, and so you know the kid will either be dead, will die or be taken out of this story and have his own story.**

**If he gets his own story it won't be written until Harry's seven. Or maybe it will lol.**

**I'm sorry I lied and the story wasn't updated Thursday like I'd planned. I was so busy and then I planned to get it done and up yesterday but I fell asleep O**

**Yup, twas my 16****th**** birthday on Thursday. Also i'd like out if people check out my forum, its on my profile. I need people before I start my new one, it's a practise run if you like called Harry potter and anime, but I will get those categories out soon as well as the general stuff. Cheers if you do, and please review. THANK YOU FOR READING! D**


	9. Oh no, daddy tingy

**Chapter 9**

Draco sat in Dumbledore's office… drained emotionally and physically. He'd ended up sleeping in Snape's quarters without Harry, which meant the boy was left without him for the third night in a row… but it had to be done. Snape was on his way now, bringing Harry with him, and Draco had been informed that the boy hadn't been as good as he could have.

Still, he still promised himself he'd be nice to the kid for the next couple of days… for in two days the small boy would age a year, and Draco had promised that Harry didn't have to act big for a little while; may as well be when he was still two.

Letting out a small sigh, Draco met Dumbledore's gaze. The man was sitting across from him and he gave the teen a small smile. First being in the house of dead people, and then finding Tom…

For that was the child. Tom Riddle. Dumbledore would have called him Voldemort, but the man had been deaged, causing him to forget his memories and whatever he'd learnt growing up. He was still alive, but in St. Mungo's. The Healers were working on fixing it so that the boy never got his memory back and would grow up at the normal pace… and would never know magic.

"What will happen to him?" Draco asked, mouth tasting funny from all the sleep he'd had.

"He'll be adopted into a special Muggle family," Dumbledore replied straight away. Then, at Draco's look, he elaborated. "They know of the magical world, somewhat. But they'll raise him as a muggle. When he reaches eighteen, for that is the muggle age of adulthood, his case will be studied by a panel… if he hasn't grown in a suitable way, they shall find a way to give him a potion, make him go through it all again. He'll not remember, but he shall have a subconscious idea that this is all because of something in a past life."

Draco sat in silence for a moment. "Isn't that… unethical?"

The man before him sighed and nodded his head. "You must see it from the general public's point of view. He took lives, and he grew up to the age of eleven as a bully… an unloved, hateful child. A thief. He was a bad egg growing up… this is kinder than killing him, isn't it? And if he's been in no serious trouble, he shall be allowed to grow up into a respectable muggle man… We'll just… keep an eye on him."

At this, there was a knock on the door, and Draco became aware, for the first time that day (it was only about 2am on the Monday morning) of a small sobbing sound that could only be coming from one child.

"Harry."

"Enter," Dumbledore called, and Snape did just that, a small and obviously cranky Harry held on his hip. Apparently, the boy hadn't slept.

"Daddy!" Harry grinned, brightening as soon as he saw Draco. The teen smiled and stood, accepting the child and holding him to his chest, blushing slightly as Harry peppered his face with childish kisses. "Missed-oo," the toddler yawned suddenly, and Draco smiled again, rubbing his baby boy's back. Harry, his jet black hair messier than normal, smiled sleepily and lay his head on Draco's shoulder, facing the boy.

"I missed you too. Were you a good boy?" Draco asked, knowing the answer anyway.

"No," Harry replied, shutting his eyes. Draco had to hold back a grin as he adjusted his hold on Harry and sat down for the meanwhile. Snape attempted to glare, but Draco could have sworn the corners of his mouth tugged upwards slightly.

Dumbledore, pleased by the reunion before him, stood up and moved around to stand by Snape. "You'll be excused from lessons for the next two days," he replied, eyes twinkling as he watched Harry, asleep already. "Assuming, of course, that you can keep up with the work."

"I'll make sure of that, Headmaster," Snape nodded to the man before Draco could speak, and after a few more pleasantries, the two Slytherin males and the baby Gryffindor left the office.

Dumbledore chuckled knowingly.

…

"Daddy."

"Yes Harry."

"No go."

"I won't go, Harry. Now sleep."

"'Tay."

"Good boy."

"… Daddy."

"Harry…"

"Errrr… baff time?"

"No Harry… bed time."

"'Tay."

"…"

"Daddy."

"What. Harry."

"Cot pease."

Draco sighed. He had tried to put Harry to bed in the child's bed, in the nursery. Harry hadn't actually put up much of a fight. Draco had told him that if he didn't like it, they would go back to his room. But Harry had to try this first. The problem was, the small boy did not want to be away from Draco, and had forced him to stay anyway.

Figuring that this way, Harry might get to sleep quicker, Draco nodded and scooped Harry up, heading into the kitchen. Snape was still up and, having heard the conversation, he'd warmed up a bottle of milk for Harry, which Draco accepted gratefully. As they entered Draco's room, Harry shifted around slightly, and Draco stopped, looking down at the boy.

"Do you need the bathroom, Harry?" he asked, suspicious. Harry only shook his head firmly, and Draco carried on into the bedroom, sitting Harry inside, giving him the bottle, then going to sit on his own bed.

And then the smell hit him.

"Oh my lord!" the blond exclaimed, covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve, and Harry sucked on the bottle innocently, only stopping to say. "Oh no, daddy tingy!"

Draco just glared.

…

After Harry had been changed and lightly scolded (though the boy obviously didn't care… he just lay there serenely), Draco attempted for the second time to put Harry to bed, and this time the boy was tired enough to fall asleep almost straight away.

Which was good… it was about 3am and Draco himself was EXHAUSTED.

He slept through the morning easily and was only woken up when young Mister Potter decided he'd like to scream.

"DAAAAAAAAADDYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

And of course, Daddy came running.

"What, Harry?" he asked urgently, checking for signs that his young ward was injured. Harry only smiled and raised his arms, trying to be picked up.

"I hungy."

Draco wasn't too mad about being woken up… sleeping past midday wasn't a habit he wanted to get into, so waking up at eleven was fine with him. The boy scooped Harry up and carried him towards the door… when something caught his eye, making him frown. Instead, Draco sat back on his bed.

"Harry," he started, looking very serious and wondering how he'd manage this. He'd have to try and give in. Again. Harry just looked at him worriedly. "You don't like those, do you?" he asked, pointing at the small boy's reigns which were hooked over the edge of the cot. Harry looked around and then shook his head furiously.

"No ike. No wun."

Draco nodded understandably. "You know how you can make it so we don't need them?" he asked, making Harry look at him with wide, attentive eyes. "You have to stay where I tell you to stay."

"No daddy! No IKE! NO IKE DA-"

At once, Draco raised his finger and touched it against Harry's top lip, causing the frustrated boy to quiet down immediately.

"You know… only big boys are allowed to wander off on their own. Are you a big boy?"

Straight away, Harry shook his head, black hair flying in different directions. This made Draco pleased and displeased at the same time. Harry didn't want to grow up, which would make his job a lot harder… but it was easier to coax the boy into doing some things… and Draco loved that Harry would need so much looking after… It may have been selfish, but he loved taking care of young Harry.

"Then will you stay where I tell you to stay, so we don't need those?" he asked, gesturing back to the reigns. Harry looked uncertain for a moment, then brightened and nodded. "There's my good baby boy!" Draco praised, taking his finger from Harry's mouth and bouncing him up and down.

…

"Daddy…" Harry had approached Draco where the boy sat on the sofa. He was finishing up an essay and Harry had been playing with the rabbit comfort toy his daddy had found.

"Hmmm?" the blond replied, glancing up at Harry who was seemingly unable to stand still. Did that mean…? "Bathroom, Harry?"

"No," the small boy replied firmly, standing still immediately. Draco sighed and went back to his essay. "You 'membah pommiss?"

Draco looked back up at Harry and looked at him for a while, then he smiled, which caused Harry to smile as well. "Now?"

"Yes pease daddy!" Harry smiled, bouncing up on his toes. Draco reached out to ruffle the boy's hair, before checking his nappy and sighing.

"How a change, then a bottle and a cuddle and a nap, then a bath, food and then we play?" he suggested, and Harry threw his arms up in childish celebration.

"Yaaaayyyyy!"

Unable to keep from grinning, Draco scooped Harry up and headed for the nursery and straight for the changing table. Though he couldn't see it, Harry glared at the bed over the blond's shoulder and stuck his tongue out.

…

Soon enough, Draco found himself laying on his bed, which was already made, with little Harry cuddling to his chest. The older boy couldn't help but smile, and he rubbed Harry's back in slow, soothing circles.

"Daddy," the boy murmured, his small chubby fist grasping the empty bottle in his hand.

"Yes Harry," Draco replied, picking up Harry and laying the boy beside him on the bed so they could both snuggle together. Harry opened his bleary eyes and rubbed at them with balled up fists as Draco put the bottle on the bedside table.

"I seep here nite-nite?" the black-haird boy asked sleepily, and Draco stared at Harry incredulously. Share a bed with Harry Potter? Was that wise?

But then again, that meant Harry would sleep in a bed and not his cot… which was a move forwards. Also, he had to grow by a year tonight, and Draco knew it would be quite painful.

"If you're good, Harry," the boy replied and, without being asked, he leant down and kissed Harry on the forehead, before running his fingers through his hair. Harry nodded and turned in towards Draco, snuggling close with one arm over the boy's stomach.

Draco loved that kid. Like he really was his son.

And the boy held back tears at the realisation that that would, of course, never happen.

…

Bath-times were getting better for Draco. Harry, tired and quiet, allowed himself to be put in the bath and washed without a fuss. He even played at the end, with Draco making sure he didn't try to get up or fall back or mess with the taps.

"Daddy," Harry said for what felt like the thousandth time in the past fortnight.

"Yes Baby Harry?" Draco replied, which made Harry grin. He liked that name.

"Where Duddy?"

At this, Draco frowned in thought. Duddy? What was that? Harry seemed to notice the confusion, and so he thought some more as Draco lifted him out of the bath to dry him off. "Duddy… an' Uncky… an' Unty…"

And then Draco realised; Harry's family. He didn't answer the boy, because in all honesty, he didn't really know. He knew they were dead… but he couldn't tell Harry this, could he? And he didn't know how they were dead… or why…

"Away, Harry…"

"Oh," came the reply as Draco went back into the bedroom where another nappy waited, along with a onesie, a red one. "Daddy… I has dummy?"

Once more, Draco smiled. He dressed Harry, glad he was asking for something that would end his CONSTANT questions, and led the way into the main living area, leading Harry by the hand.

Removing the dummy and a pot of kid's yoghurt from the fridge, Draco kicked the door shut and grabbed a spoon, heading back to Harry. The young boy eyed the spoon accusingly, and Draco thought he was going to refuse the yoghurt. But…

"Where SHoon?" he asked, and Draco thought back. Harry hadn't had his spoon in ages. Draco had forgotten about it.

"In the bedroom. I'll get it before we play, yeah?"

"'Tay."

For once, Harry ate with absolutely no fuss, being fed by Draco as he stared up into the older boy's face. It was an expression of adoration, and it lifted Draco's heart.

"You are such a good boy!" he praised when the yoghurt was finished, and Harry gave him a big grin, before reaching out for the red dummy. Draco gave it to him, but Harry frowned and gave it back, before pointing at his mouth.

Sighing, Draco popped it into Harry's mouth for him, and let the boy onto the floor, disappearing into the bedroom quickly to grab the spoon, whilst Harry toddled around, happily sucking on the dummy.

…

That night, when Draco crawled into bed beside Harry, having put up magical barriers in case the boy fell, he was happy. Harry had been a little angel for him, and for that he was thankful. Presently, the two year old sat beside Draco in a newly changed nappy, still sucking on the dummy and ready to sleep. Draco had taken the boy's clothes off because the young boy was set to age a year tonight, and he might grow larger than the clothes were.

"You're going straight to sleep, aren't you, Harry?" Draco asked, laying Harry down on the bed and pulling the overthrow up so it covered them both; the duvet was too heavy. He was tucking the small boy in, when he saw that Harry's nod was far too enthusiastic.

Biting back a grin, Draco reached to the side for the bottle of milk he'd warmed up for Harry. Taking the dummy from Harry's mouth, Draco pushed the bottle in, and Harry started to drink. The boy fell asleep to Draco feeding him and stroking his hair, and, when the dummy was replaced, he snuggled up to his daddy like he had earlier and began to sleep peacefully.

**TBC**

**Yeah… I know. Over a year. I'm soooooooo sorry. I… got distracted? XD**

**Well, here's the next chapter and once I update the other fics, or I just feel like writing this, I'll update.**

**I… have really been neglecting this site xD**

**~Zoe**


End file.
